The developed world may be at fault for producing more carbon, but
India harms the environment by playing the blame gameIndia announced its ambitious
solar energy plan last week: 20GW of clean, sun-produced power by 2020. The problem is though, India won't be paying for any of it. A planned $20bn (£12.1bn) of government investment, which appeared in the draft documents, has been scratched because it contradicts India's political position that developed nations should bear the costs of clean technologies. There is currently no funding at all for this otherwise laudable plan.Climate change is already happening and further warming is now inevitable because of the amount of carbon already in the atmosphere. Most of this carbon was released by rich countries over the past 50 years. Nevertheless, it is people in the developing world who are, and will continue to be, disproportionately impacted by climate change. One estimate suggests that climate change is responsible for 300,000 deaths a year.By removing the only current source of funding for the solar programme, the Indian government is playing a dangerous political experiment with its people's future. If it genuinely wants to meet the challenge of climate change, it cannot afford to hand responsibility for solving the problem to the developed world, it needs to take an active role now.Yes, it is unfair that people in poor countries are being affected by climate change that they had no part in creating – India has 17.5% of the world's population, yet emits just 4% of the world's carbon – just as it is unfair that much of the poverty there results from centuries of exploitation by the rich world.It is also unfair that western countries got to develop their economies in a cheap, dirty way, arguably at the expense of India's economy. But to claim, as the Indian government and Indian-born IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri do, that this means that India should therefore be allowed to develop its economy without carbon ...
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