“Declare All Cleantech As Global Public Goods”, India

In a recent international conference on ‘Climate Change: Technology Development & Transfer’ held in Delhi, the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh began his speech by stating that climate friendly and environmentally sound technologies should be viewed as global public goods.

The panel, also chaired by the Maldives President after his country’s recent underwater stunt, called for the Northern countries to do (much) more than just emissions reduction. The statement also comes shortly after media reports suggest India could change its national position on climate change to drop the ‘deal-breaker’ tag put on it by the West.

The BIG question: Will India change its official position ahead of Copenhagen?

• » See also: Oceans’ Ability to Absorb Carbon & Protect Against Climate Change Weakening
• » Get EcoWorldly by RSS or sign up by email.

In the conference, called to highlight the role of technology in fighting the ongoing climate crisis, the Indian Prime Minister discussed vividly how technology and its diffusion will be a key element in meeting the challenge of climate change. “Developing countries cannot and will not compromise on development.” the PM stood ground and quickly followed this with, “The challenge before the developing world is how to achieve our developmental goals while at the same time minimizing ecological costs.”

While welcoming the Maldivian President Mr. Nasheed, the PM declared him to be an untiring champion of global cooperation to address this formidable challenge of climate change. The President of Maldives later told the media that his country looks up to India for leading the way on climate change. India herself has a large population living in island chains and low-lying coastal areas which are vulnerable to climate change.

Speaking on CleanTech, the PM stated that the IPR regime applied to such goods should balance rewards for innovators with the need to promote the common good of humankind.  Further, suitable mechanisms must be found that will provide incentives for developing new technologies while also facilitating their deployment in developing countries at affordable cost. A similar sentiment was echoed by Mr. Shyam Saran, PM’s special envoy on climate change in a media interview after the conference.

The PM’s final ‘verdict’ that a comprehensive, balanced and above all, an equitable outcome at Copenhagen will enable us to do much more in all areas found unanimous agreement with all present.

India’s National Position

The Prime Minister of India has now called for an all states and cabinet Ministers meeting to seek a national consensus on India’s position at Copenhagen in December. Previous developments have indicated that the the Government may amend some of its positions on climate change.

While the opposition party and also the Left in the country have opposed any such change, it will clearly be difficult to make such a change without a political consensus. Only the coming few days will reveal the final position India will take for tackling this extraordinary global challenge of climate change.

Tweet This Post