India on Saturday conveyed its association with the Copenhagen Accord to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat by pronouncing its domestic mitigation actions to prevent climate change.
India told the UNFCCC that it would endeavour to reduce the emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 20-25 per cent by 2020 in comparison to the 2005 levels.
While the domestic mitigation actions will be India’s contribution to the global efforts to address climate change, India has clarified that they will be entirely voluntary in nature and will not have a legally binding character.
The actions will also not apply to the agriculture sector. The emissions from agriculture sector will be excluded from the assessment of emissions intensity. India’s actions will be taken in accordance with the principles and provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention.
It intends to implement its mitigation actions in accordance with the provisions of the relevant national legislations and policies and will elaborate in due course the actions required in the various sectors to achieve the overall objective of the emissions intensity reduction.
China’s submission
China sent its communication to the UNFCCC secretariat on Thursday on its autonomous domestic mitigation actions that commit to lowering carbon dioxide emissions per unit of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 40-45 per cent by 2020 compared to the 2005 levels.
While pointing out that its mitigation actions were voluntary in nature, the National Development and Reform Commission of China has also announced an increase in the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 15 per cent by 2020, and an increase in forest cover by 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion cubic metres by 2020 from the 2005 levels.
The United States also associated itself with the accord and announced a 17 per cent cut in its greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels, but in conformity with the anticipated U.S. energy and climate legislation.
