Sunday, October 25, 2015

Low Emissions Due To Ecofriendly Lifestyles? India's Climate Roadmap

India has submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is a sort of a road map the country will take with regards to future carbon emissions, mitigation and adaptation.

On page two I came across this gem:

Even now, when the per capita emissions of many developed countries vary between 7 to15 metric tonnes, the per capita emissions in India were only about 1.56 metric tonnes in 2010. This is because Indians believe in nature friendly lifestyle and practices rather than its exploitation.

What a load of bollocks!

Anyone familiar with the reality of life in India will recognize this as a specious attempt to explain away the low per capita emissions.

Emissions in India are low not because of nature friendly lifestyles but because of deep poverty. Hundreds of millions of people don't have access to enough energy... and the energy they are forced to exploit like burning cow dung, charcoal, wood and rubbish to sustain themselves is deeply injurious to their health.

On the other end of the spectrum, emissions from the increasingly affluent classes living mostly in cities are beginning to catch up with the developed world.

Nagraj Adve and Ashish Kothari critique the road map. It is not "nature friendly".

2 comments:

  1. We can also be proud that 13 of the top 20 cities are in India--- the most polluted!
    http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/13-out-of-world-s-top-20-polluted-cities-in-india-only-three-in-china/story-myTrPZM8DHmQOhxB9cc5hI.html
    While considering per capita anything, we might like to feel proud that our per capita expenditure on health is better than in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

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