India: India doesn't need lectures from the US on global warming. A hard cap on emissions, desired by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, would unfairly stunt growth for India, a relatively low emitter. And US carbon tariffs could damage its exports. But the populous country matters to global emissions goals. The US should compromise - a carbon tax could be India's best option.
Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister, is right to reject the US line. India is the world’s fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide overall. But even in aggregate, its emissions amount to less than a quarter of those from the US or China. In per capita terms, India's emissions are just a fraction of the other top global culprits'. Significantly, even its emissions per dollar of GDP (on a purchasing power parity basis) are in line with those of the US and far below those of Russia and China.
India is poor and needs rapid economic growth to improve living standards. Capping its emissions at or near current levels - as the US wants - is unjustified. There is also no rational basis for US threats to impose carbon tariffs on Indian exports, when India’s emissions per dollar of output are no worse than what the US achieves and far better than many other countries manage.
Whatever the merits of the “cap and trade” system planned for the US, applying one in India would be inviting an economic nightmare. Aside from a negative impact on growth, the complex enforcement bureaucracy could easily worsen the corruption that has hobbled India’s economy in the past.
Rather, a moderate carbon tax could prove helpful in restoring India's fiscal stability, which suffers from deficit spending. It would not restrict future growth unduly, but would help direct that growth in ways that tended to reduce carbon emissions.
India has committed to helping the global fight against carbon emissions. But it makes more sense to allow the country to use intelligent policies of its own - not blunt instruments of America's self-interested choosing - to fulfil that commitment.