India wants developed countries to fulfill their commitments under the Unite Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of providing resources to the developing countries to mitigate adverse impact due to climate change, parliament was told Thursday.
“We want developed countries to contribute more because they are more responsible for emitting greenhouse gases. Our national commitment is there,” Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said in response to a question in Rajya Sabha on behalf of Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, who is attending a UN Climate Change Summit at Lima in Peru.
Asked about the climate change deal signed by US and China, the minister said India has nothing to do with it.
“Regarding the US-China agreement, India is not a party to that. We have taken a stand and we are not deviating,” he said.
The US and China have unveiled a secretly negotiated deal to reduce their greenhouse gas output, with China agreeing to cap emissions for the first time and the US committing to deep reductions by 2025.
China, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, has agreed to cap its output by 2030 or earlier if possible.
In response to another question, the minister denied having received any report from the US embassy about Delhi’s air pollution level, but admitted that air quality deteriorates during Diwali.
“The government has not received any such report from US embassy,” Rijiju said.
He however added that government is aware of the newspaper reports.
“However, as per newspaper reports quoting US embassy’s website, it was claimed that the air in Delhi was very unhealthy on Oct 29, 2014 on the standards of Air Quality Index (AQI) which is followed in US. Indian standards for monitoring air quality are comprehensive and different from that of US,” he said.
(IANS)