Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said nations made “limited progress” at the Copenhagen climate-change summit and no one was satisfied with the outcome.
“There is no escaping the truth that the nations of the world have to move to a low greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficient development path,” Singh told delegates attending the Indian Science Congress in the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram yesterday, an e-mailed statement from his office said.
The Copenhagen Accord sets the goal of limiting global temperature increases to 2°C.
It also pledges US$30 billion between this year and 2012 as well as US$100 billion a year by 2020 for developing countries to help adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The agreement has been criticized by environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and carbon traders including Barclays Capital as it didn’t set binding targets.
While countries including the US, China and India agreed on Dec. 19 to “take note” of the agreement, they were given until Jan. 31 to list actions and targets.
The Copenhagen Summit was held between Dec. 7 and Dec. 18 in the Danish capital.
There is a shift to renewable sources of energy and India must take the lead in the development of science and technology related to mitigation and adaptation of climate change, Singh said in the statement.
The cost of switching away from fossil fuels in the next 20 years is now estimated at US$10 trillion and will rise by US$500 billion for each year of delay, the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based adviser to 28 developed nations, said in October.
The use of more energy-efficient technology will save about US$8.6 trillion in that time, it said.
India needs to increase its solar and nuclear supplies “considerably,” the prime minister said.
An accord last year with the Nuclear Suppliers Group will lift restrictions on the transfer of nuclear fuel and technology to India, he said.
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