Worlds Collide in India Over Global Warming

Leaders of industrial nations meeting at the G8 summit have announced plans to open negotiations for global action to slow climate change and involve emerging economies India and China. China and India, with the world’s largest populations, contribute increasing proportions of carbon emissions, which spur global warming. The world has many inequities, both among nations and within, reminds Jo Johnson in his new column for the Financial Times that analyzes forces shaping India. As in other parts of the world, higher incomes in India lead to more energy consumption and more warming. Environmentalists in India contend that developing nations can no longer afford to use their poorest citizens as an excuse to evade responsibility in slowing emissions. The many consequences of climate change – harsh weather, rising sea levels, declining food and water supplies – will hit the poor hardest, particularly in developing nations. Johnson points out that growing numbers of citizens in the developing world are on an energy binge – and that the wealthy industrialized nations, which enjoyed decades of comforts associated with abundant energy, may have to subsidize the transfer of patented technologies to slow the energy consumption. – YaleGlobal