India conveys climate steps to UN, excludes agriculture sector

New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) In keeping with its pledge of
adopting a low-carbon path, India has informed the UN that it
will undertake voluntary cuts of its emission intensity by
20-25 per cent by 2020 but asserted that it will not be
applicable to the agriculture sector.

In a statement submitted to the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change secretariat, the Indian government Saturday
formally said, "India will endeavour to cut its emissions
intensity by 20-25 per cent by 2020 in comparison to the 2005
level through domestic mitigation actions."
Carbon emissions intensity refers to the amount of carbon
dioxide emitted for each unit of gross domestic product.
However, sticking to its negotiating position maintained
at last month's Copenhagen Summit, the Indian government said,
"While these actions will be in the nature of its contribution
to the global efforts to address climate change...it will be
entirely voluntary in nature and will not have a legally
binding character."
The Government of India tabled its blueprint a day before
the UN deadline for submitting the climate change mitigation
steps under the Copenhagen Accord, which expired Sunday.
The Indian government also stressed that the agriculture
sector would not be the part of its mitigation actions, a move
primarily aimed to ensure food security in the country to meet
the needs of its ever-increasing population.
"Mitigation actions will not apply to agriculture sector
and the emissions from agriculture sector will be excluded
from the assessment of emission intensity," the statement
said. (MORE) PTI AJ
RDM


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