Amid criticism from some quarters for the Copenhagen accord on climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today advocated the need for an “informed and rational” debate on solutions that suit India.
In his first comments after the Copenhangen Summit, he said “hard” efforts were underway to build a global consensus on “solutions that address the needs of the poor along with the needs of our planet and of all humanity”.
Singh said sometimes he wondered whether India should follow the “same unsustainable path” the industrialised countries had taken to develop and modernise their societies. “We need to recognise our own reality and have an informed and rational debate on what is in our enlightened self-interest,” he said at a CNN-IBN award function here.
The remarks by the PM came a day ahead of the detailed statement the government would give in Parliament on the outcome of the just-concluded 12-day Copenhagen climate change conference.
During the Summit, the US and four major developing countries — India, China, South Africa and Brazil — reached a legally non-binding agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and capping the rise in temperature to 2 degrees Celsius.
The accord has come under sharp attack from Left parties which accused the government of failing the developing nations by not delivering an effective and equitable climate change agreement.
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“The apprehensions of all poor nations that ultimately a deal will be imposed by the US has proved correct. It is a sorry spectacle of succumbing to US pressure,” the CPI said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the United States said it would not only “review” its implementation by India and China, but also would “challenge” them if they do not meet the goals set by the agreement.
“Now, China and India have set goals. We are going to be able to review what they are doing. We are going to be able to challenge them if they do not meet those goals,” David Axelrod, Senior White House Advisor, told CNN yesterday.