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Greenhouse
Emissions
·
On July 8,
2008
Chairman of
Intergovernmental
Panel on
Climate
Change (IPCC)
RK Pachauri
asked
developed
nations to
“get off
India and
China’s
back”,
criticising
them for
asking India
and China to
cut down
greenhouse
gas
emissions,
while they
themselves
had not
taken any
strong steps
to slow down
their
emissions.
·
Responding
to
implications
related to
India’s
National
Action Plan
on Climate
Change, he
said “India
cannot be
held to any
kinds of
emission
targets”
Mission
IAS’2009
·
Pachauri
stressed -
India was an
expanding
economy and
could not
levy a cap
when
millions
were living
with
deprivation,
he said “to
impose any
cap on India
at a time
when others
(industrialised
countries)
are saying
that they
will reach
the 1990
level of
emission by
2025 is
disastrous.”
·
He also came
strong on
subsidy on
kerosene in
India,
terming
kerosene as
“incompatible
with India’s
climate
change plan”
and the
subsidy
being
provided as
“unholy”.
·
He urged the
government
to instead
divert
resources
allocated to
subsidies
for
non-renewable
fuels to
promoting
renewable
energy like
solar.
·
Budgetary
subsidies to
kerosene
were Rs 967
crore in
2006-7,
with under
recoveries
of Rs 17,883
crore. A
recent study
by the
ASSOCHAM
states that
a third of
subsidised
kerosene was
being
diverted for
black
marketing or
adulteration,
leading to
losses of
about Rs
5,700-crore,
or 38.4 per
cent of the
kerosene
subsidy.
·
Batting
actively for
promoting
solar
energy,
Pachauri
said
there were
1.6 billion
people
worldwide,
who lacked
access to
electricity
and of these
25 per cent
lived in
India. As
many as
76-million
rural
households
in India
lacked
access to
power, 65
million of
them used
kerosene for
lighting.
·
To extend
the facility
of solar
lanterns to
65-million
rural
households
presently
dependent on
kerosene for
lighting, an
outlay
between
Rs.20,800-23,400
crore will
be required
(Rs 3,200-Rs
3,600 per
lantern)
which is
half the
total
implied
subsidy on
the kerosene
consumed in
India
annually.
·
In addition,
solar
lanterns
will also
mitigate the
5.9 million-tonne
of CO2
emitted from
kerosene
lanterns
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