India not to sign binding agreements on environment

Jairam Ramesh, the guardian minister for India's shockingly degraded environment, has said development will continue to be the priority over ecological concerns.

The minister of state for environment on Tuesday also asserted a central role for his ministry in global climate change negotiations as well as in the implementation of the national action plan on climate.

Giving an indication of what India's stance would be at the Copenhagen climate summit, scheduled in December to hammer out a replacement for the expiring Kyoto pact, Ramesh said, ''India will not accept any emission-reduction target period. India will not accept any legally enforceable targets. This is a non-negotiable stand.''

Ramesh iterated India's earlier position that the country's per capita emission of carbon dioxide would not exceed that of the developed countries. ''Even at a 9 per cent growth, the per capita emission will be nowhere near that of the developed countries. Per capita calculation is the way to go, as it enshrines the principle of equity,'' he said.

"India cannot and will not take emission reduction targets because poverty eradication and social and economic development are first and over-riding priorities," Ramesh said.

Stressing that the National Action Plan on Climate Change was a domestic effort, the minister said that these efforts would not be subject to international monitoring. ''We reject the notion that what we have decided on domestically requires international monitoring or verification,'' he said.