For Samir Saran, vice-president of the influential think-tank Observer Research Foundation, India has every right to use the carbon space freed by the developed world without restrictions. Every time a new coal plant comes up in India, one should be shut down in the OECD.
India intends to reduce its carbon emissions intensity by 33-35 per cent by 2030, from its 2005 levels. While this commitment has drawn fulsome praise from many, the green ayatollahs have predictably ignored its herculean clean energy ambitions and focussed on Indian dependence on coal.
India’s total energy consumption is a fraction of that of China, the U.S., the European Union and the OECD. Its position at the climate change negotiations has continued to reflect the centrality of access to energy for human development.