Sunny side up for India's climate change plan

RISING SUN: PM has acknowledged climate change will undermine India’s development efforts.

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Rajdeep Sardesai

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Keywords: National Action Plan, Climate Change

New Delhi: It’s sunny-side-up for India if the National Action Plan on Climate Change is anything to go by. Solar energy is the center-piece shining star of the eight national missions that Prime minster has outlined as India's official plan to combat global warming.

Apart from tapping the sun, other key missions include Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem, Sustainable Agriculture, Green India mission, Water Mission and Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.

The long-awaited strategy document comes amid growing international pressure on India to set binding targets to cut down on green house gas emissions.

Which is why the PM is expected to circulate the National Action Plan in the coming G-8 summit in Japan. PM says that India needs to send a clear message - that the nation is on a path of ecologically sustainable development.

But the plan does not mention any targets or caps on cutting down on emissions in any of the sectors.

“We are engaged in global multilateral discussions. As for developing countries, emissions will be a consequence of sustainable development not the other way around,” said Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran.

This is the first time the PM has acknowledged climate change will undermine India’s development efforts. “In the long run, climate change will undermine national development efforts,”

Its globally acknowldged that India;s agricultual output would be among the worst impacted by rising temperatures and sea level rise also threatens India's vast population along the coastline.

So the hope is that action plan is not just a document to allay the international community but a ticket to secure India's future.