Global Warming and Climate Change

India is a party to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and acceded to the Kyoto Protocol adopted under it in 2002. A clean development mechanism (CDM) has been set up under the Kyoto Protocol to facilitate compliance of GHG emission reduction targets by Annex I countries. Under this mechanism, Developed countries take up projects of GHG reduction in Developing countries by using energy efficient technologies. Project cost of such activities is much lower in developing countries. CDM thus helps developing countries towards sustainable development and simultaneously developed countries achieving compliance of GHG reduction commitments.

Under the regime of T.R. Baalu a National CDM Authority with Secretary of the Ministry as its Chairperson was set up in the Ministry in December 2003 to promote energy efficient projects under CDM.

Baalu attended the 5th Conference of Parties (COP 5) held at Bonn, Germany on November 2 1999 where despite pressure from developed countries he took a tough stand on India’s obligation to reduce its carbon emissions. He reiterated that India’s per capita GHG emissions were many times below the world average and far lower than the average of developed countries and, therefore, it was not obliged to cut down its existing GHG reductions. Nevertheless, under his regime, India continued voluntarily pursuing policies of energy conservation and low emission technologies in industry. He observed that developing countries have demonstrated their commitment to cooperative global action in dealing with threat to climate change but at the same time he cautioned that they had fallen far short of fulfilling their commitments under the Convention for reduction of GHG emissions.