Agencies/New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday India was not under pressure on climate change after the US and China signed an emissions deal, but added global warming itself was reason to take action.
India, the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has resisted pressure to commit to a timeline for capping emissions after China and the US announced a bilateral pact in November.
“India is an independent country. There is no pressure as such,” Modi said after talks with US President Barack Obama in New Delhi.
“But there is a pressure of a different kind, the pressure of what kind of legacy we want to leave for our future generations,” Modi said, standing alongside Obama.
“Global warming is a pressure... We understand this pressure and we are responding to it,” he added.
Obama has been keen to clinch a deal with India ahead of a key climate summit in Paris late this year.
Under last year’s ambitious joint plan between the world’s two largest economies, the US set new targets for carbon emission reductions while China said it would cap emissions and get more of its electricity from renewable energies.
India relies hugely on coal to generate its electricity, while its population is set to overtake that of China’s by 2030.
Since coming to power in May, Modi has pledged to increase India’s renewable energy in a bid to lower coal use and bring electricity to more than 300mn poor people without power.
The Modi government set a target in November for as much as 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2022, five times the previous goal.
Modi said yesterday that clean energy was a “personal and national priority” for him and that he was looking forward to a “successful” Paris conference in December.
Obama said the two leaders had made a “personal commitment” to work together and pursue a strong global climate agreement at the event.
Obama also offered to help finance India’s solar energy target.
“We very much support India’s ambitious goal for solar energy, and stand ready to speed this expansion with additional financing,” Obama said.
India is seeking investments of $100bn over seven years to boost the country’s solar energy capacity.
The US Export-Import Bank is exploring projects for a $1bn clean energy financing for companies willing to ship equipment from the US to India.
First Solar and SunEdison Inc are two US solar companies that already have sizeable businesses in India, and together with local firms, are expected to invest $6bn in India in the fiscal year to March 31 and $14bn in the next fiscal year.
To further mobilise private capital for the clean energy sector, the US Agency for International Development will install a field investment officer in India this summer, the White House Press Office said in a statement after the summit.  
The UN asked governments on Thursday to submit plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions after scientists said 2014 was the hottest year on record.
“The prime minister and I made a personal commitment to work together to pursue a strong global climate agreement in Paris,” Obama said. “As I indicated to him, I think India’s voice is very important on this issue.”
“Perhaps no country could potentially be more affected by the effects of climate change and no country be more important in moving forward towards a strong agreement (in Paris) than India. So we appreciate its leadership,” said Obama.
The Paris summit will see some 195 countries hold talks to find ways to curb the fossil-fuel gases warming the planet.






Related Story