India is planning “aggressive” cuts in emissions in a time-bound manner but the country will not compromise on its target to achieve 8 per cent economic growth a year, Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh has said.
“India is going to aggressively take on voluntary mitigation outcomes and we are now going for domestic legislation which will enshrine some targets,” Ramesh said.
The target includes a mandatory fuel efficiency cap which will come into place in 2011, an energy efficient building code which will come into effect in 2012 and an increase in electricity produced from renewable sources to 20 per cent by 2020. “What India is going to do is to set a target date, which is 2020, and introduce a quantitative outcome which is an implicit mitigation target — not explicit target. We will enshrine that into law, so that there is a degree of credibility,” the minister told The Guardian. Ramesh, however, said India will not compromise on its ambitions of achieving 8 per cent economic growth.
