India must pass comprehensive legislations that make it mandatory to meet climate change mitigation targets ahead of the international climate conference to be held in Paris in 2015, according to Jairam Ramesh, former Union Minister for Environment and Forests.
This will instil confidence in the international community on the country’s seriousness in addressing the challenge of climate change and strengthen domestic initiatives.
The legislation should address energy efficiency targets, mandatory fuel efficiency standards, quality of forest cover and establish standards for emission from power plants.
Addressing a public lecture on ‘Warming up to the climate change challenge’ organised by the Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy and the Asian College of Journalism, he said such legislation must be a part of the overall pragmatic approach to the Paris conference that hopes to arrive at a legally binding agreement covering all countries. “A legal framework through executive actions is what I am advocating,” he said.
India can also demonstrate its commitment by adopting a low carbon approach to economic development. A study by the expert group of the Planning Commission made public in April 2014 provides many options and it also showed that a low carbon approach would only reduce average annual GDP by 0.1-0.15 percentage points.