Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon claims climate change is all about economics and politics and dishes out climate change statistics with much ease.
On Thursday in Berlin, Outreach countries that include India, Mexico, China, Brazil and South Africa will discuss the possibility of joint strategy on climate change.
While explaining India's view on the issue of climate change, Menon said India's per capita emissions are only 23 per cent of the global average, 4 per cent of the US, 12 per cent of EU, 15 per cent of Japan.
India with 17 per cent of the world population is accountable for only 4 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. India is committed to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and also the Kyoto protocol, said Menon.
India has a legal framework to address energy and environment issues and the implementation of National Environment Policy, 2006. It will help the Indian prime minister take a stand that will not adversely affect India's plan of development and poverty alleviation.
India is not yet successful, but is also not lagging behind in taking initiatives in the right direction in effective control of greenhouse gas emissions, claims the Indian government.
India is trying to achieve energy efficiency in energy intensive sectors like steel, aluminium, fertiliser, paper, cement etc.
At the G-8 summit when climate change is discussed, India will mainly raise three points.
India believes that an agreement is needed on Intellectual Property Rights on technologies that would help control emission of gases in developing countries, and make it affordable.
Secondly, India believes that partnership in research and development is needed to help developing countries cope with the future environment problems better.
If possible there should be a venture capital fund to finance such projects.
No efforts of greenhouse gas mitigation will succeed if the production and consumption patterns of developed countries remained unsustainable.
