DELHI, INDIA, June 30, 2008:The Indian government has unveiled a national action plan to confront the threat posed by climate change. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the plan envisaged a gradual shift to greater reliance on sustainable sources of energy.
The prime minister said that over time India must shift from economic activity based on fossil fuels to one based on non-fossil fuels. “In this strategy, the sun occupies centre stage, as it should, being literally the original source of all energy.” The action plan, however, makes no commitment to cut India’s carbon emissions.
A recent Greenpeace report on climate change warned that if greenhouse gas emissions continued to grow at their present rate, South Asia could face a major humanitarian crisis. It estimates that 75 million people in Bangladesh would lose their homes. About 45 million people in India would also become “climate migrants”.