Act on Copenhagen: US India summit

blye sky and exhaust smoke (iStockphotos)

The leaders of the United States and India have pledged to take action to cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions in an agreement that President Barack Obama described as taking the world 'one step closer' to a successful outcome at next month's climate change conference.

President and Obama and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh both committed to take 'significant mitigation actions' after holding a bilateral meeting in Washington on 24 November.

In a joint statement, Singh and Obama spoke of their hopes for a 'comprehensive' deal at the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen that opens on 7 December. 'It should reflect emission reduction targets of developed countries and nationally appropriate mitigation actions of developing countries,' they said, according to AFP.

Obama told a joint press conference with the Indian leaders that all countries must 'reach a strong operational agreement that will confront the threat of climate change while serving as a stepping-stone to a legally binding treaty'.

The Guardian said it meant that three of the world's top emitters, China, the US and India, had now committed to action on emissions at Copenhagen, although they have yet to reveal the actual targets.

'But it does significantly boost the prospect that world leaders could commit to strong action at the UN summit, despite the rancorous atmosphere among their official negotiating teams at the last set of meetings in Barcelona this month,' the paper said.

In recent weeks, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea have all set out figures for emissions reduction and a specific target from China is expected soon. China and the European Union are holding a summit on 30 November.

However in a speech to the Foreign Relations Council in Washington, Singh made clear that emerging and developing countries would not allow their right to develop and lift people out of poverty to be compromised.

He said: 'We are committed to ambitious and time-bound outcomes that will increase the energy efficiency of our economy, the share of clean energy including nuclear power in our energy mix, and our forest cover.'

'All this requires resources. We have undertaken to do what we can with our own resources. We will do more if there is global support in terms of financial resources and technology transfer.'

In his speech Singh also made the point that India was a 'latecomer to industrialisation' and as such it had contributed very little to the accumulation of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

India emits an estimated 1.3 metric tons per capita of CO2 emissions compared with the 20.4 tons emitted by the US. India's cabinet this week approved a plan to triple solar capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2022, and to give more incentives to the development of solar power.

The leaders of major Indian businesses and well as emerging entrpreneuers have embraced the green agenda, according to a film produced by the Centre for Social Markets.

In the film Nandan Nilekani, Co-Chairman of Infosys Technologies, said 'We must be signalling that creating a sustainable, green India, developing business and sustainability [and] preparing for a post-carbon economy is in our strategic interest.'

Sagun Saxena, chief executive of Cleanstar, a sustainable biofuel producer that started business in 2005, said: 'I want to see our Indian negotiators be very bold in Copenhagen. By being bold, the negotiators create the market for these technologies around the world that Indian companies can be successful in selling.'