India may be more flexible on climate talks

Watch CNBC-TV18 live only on MYTV >> RELATED NEWS Investors welcome new US, China climate goals World can reach climate pact by end 2010: Mexico US and India agree on environment goals India ties solar plans to global climate support Climate change treaty hinges on a hope

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the country may have to be more flexible over climate change talks after China unveiled its first firm targets to cut carbon emissions, a newspaper reported on Friday.

On Thursday, China pledged to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each yuan of national income by 40-45 percent by 2020, compared to 2005 levels, a move hailed as a vital to rekindling UN talks to tackle global warming.

"China has given us a wake-up call," Ramesh was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times newspaper. "We have to think hard about our climate strategy now and look for flexibility."

"Now the pressure is even from the advanced developing countries on us to declare targets on emissions which are not legally binding," Ramesh said ahead of a trip to Beijing.

India and China have said they would work towards a common position in talks on a climate deal. China is the world's top greenhouse gas emitter and India is the fourth largest.

The United Nations is aiming for a comprehensive political agreement at climate talks in the Danish capital that start in little over a week, covering tougher emissions targets, climate financing for poorer nations and the transfer of clean-energy technology.

The troubled talks have run out of time to settle a legally binding deal after rancorous arguments between rich and poor nations about who should cut emissions, by how much and who should pay.

New Delhi has so far refused to accept internationally legally binding emission reduction targets, though it is prepared to discuss and make public periodically the status of its domestic climate action.

In October, a newspaper reported Ramesh had suggested India accept curbs on its rising emissions without insisting they should hinge on new finance and technology from rich nations.

But Ramesh retreated after being accused by media and opposition of hurting Indian interests.

China's position comes after the United States said it would commit to cut its greenhouse gas emissions roughly 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, a drop of about 3 percent below the 1990 benchmark year used in UN treaties.

Many countries have been unwilling to commit to cuts before knowing the position of the United States, the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter.