Global
climate deal should not hamper individual countries'
economic growth: France
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[February 05, 2015] NEW
DELHI (Reuters) - A global deal to curb carbon emissions must recognize
each country's right to develop, France's foreign minister said in New
Delhi on Thursday, as the host of this year's U.N. climate change talks
seeks to win India's backing for a global deal.
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Laurent Fabius said that efforts to reach an agreement, which is due
at the United Nations summit in Paris in December, would fail if any
country believed it would hurt their economic prospects.
India, the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, often
acts as the voice of the developing world in climate change talks,
and winning its support is seen as crucial if countries are to reach
a deal.
"An agreement that would leave some countries to consider their
growth hampered by its provisions will not be accepted," Fabius told
an audience at an annual sustainable development summit.
Fabius, who was due to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
later on Thursday, said he understood "the constraints of India" as
it seeks to grow its economy.
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Governments across the world are expected to submit national plans
to rein in greenhouse gas emissions by an informal deadline of March
31 to form the basis of the global agreement due at the Paris
summit.
India has long resisted pressure to commit to any emissions targets,
on the grounds that it could hamper its economy and that rich
countries should shoulder most of the burden of lowering emissions.
Instead, India has committed to a huge expansion in renewable energy
and improving the energy efficiency of its rapidly growing economy,
while at the same time increasing its burning of coal to meet the
bulk of its growing energy needs.
India will build an ambitious 100,000 MW of solar power capacity -
33 times its current level - by 2020, two years ahead of a target
date announced last year, Prakash Javadekar, India's environment
minister, told the same event in Delhi.
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Fabius also argued that the public and private sector should commit
more money to a green climate fund, a U.N. initiative that aims to
help poor nations cope with global warming, if the world is to cut
emissions successfully.
"No significant reduction of greenhouse gas emission can be achieved
without critical access to sustainable development," he said.
"The initial capitalization of the green climate fund has mounted to
over $10 billion ... but beyond that we need increased financing
from both public and private sources to reach $100 billion a year
starting from 2020."
(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Douglas
Busvine)
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