India's Poorest Could Benefit From Change to Renewables
Nandan Nilekani | Yale Global | August 2009
With the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen this December, India's government has to define its long-term strategy to fight possible environmental disaster. India, in particular, is likely to be one of the countries most strongly affected by climate shifts. The argument which allocates the burden of cutting carbon emission to the nations responsible for the atmospheric pollution, the western developed countries, ignores the environmental conditions domestically. The task is tricky: New Delhi has to fulfill the global agreement without hindering its own economic development goals. Ultimately, India's population could benefit from this trend.
An eco-friendly policy tends to supply great opportunities and a low carbon economy does not automatically hinder development. Instead it could both deepen and expand India's financial markets. Furthermore, green investments of the industry to offset carbon intensive projects could create new jobs on common lands by employing the rural population to plant trees and maintain forested land. Combined with property rights, this approach would create new wealth among India's rural poor. The low-carbon approach could be the greatest chance for India and also matches the goal of New Delhi's legislators, who have been emphasizing ‘pro-poor' policies and addressing income inequalities in recent years.
This summary was prepared by the Atlantic Community editorial team from "India Should Combine Tough Climate Stand With Green Policy" published here by Yale Global.
