India’s greenhouse emissions below global average: study
03 Sep 2009
India's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will grow four-fold in the next two decades if the economy expands by an average 8 per cent a year during this period, says a government-funded study by five different organisations.
India's per-capita emissions are estimated to rise to 2.1 tonnes by 2020 and 3.5 tonnes by 2030, the report released on Wednesday said. But still it remains below the global average for 2005.
The report, India's GHG emissions profile, was released jointly by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, and environment minister Jairam Ramesh.
"It's not a do-nothing strategy," Ramesh told reporters, adding that the per-capita principle is the only internationally recognised measure of equity.
''Four out of the five studies show that even two decades from now, India's per capita greenhouse gas emissions would be well below the global average 25 years earlier,'' Ramesh said.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, India's per capita emission of GHG is 1.2 tonnes, while it is 15 tonnes for the UK and 20 tonnes for the US.