India says emissions to fall 25 pct by 2020

By Nita Bhalla

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India said on Monday its existing energy policy would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by over 25 percent by 2020, but warned pressure to set mandatory targets to curb global warming would hurt economic growth. Currently contributing around three percent of global carbon emissions, India is already among the world's top polluters, along with the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

Despite pressure from industrialized nations and environmental groups to cut emissions, India is not required under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions -- said to be rising annually by 2-3 percent -- presently.

Prodipto Ghosh, India's environment secretary, told a news conference that India was an environmentally responsible country which actively enforced programs on energy efficiency and promotion of renewable energy, which were paying off.

"Our modeling approaches show the effect of many of our policies taken together that the year 2020 will result in a more than a 25 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions," said Ghosh.

Booming economies India and China are likely to face more pressure at next week's summit of the Group of Eight in Germany to do more to cut emissions.

Ghosh said India was spending 2.17 percent of GDP annually on addressing the variability of climate change through projects in agriculture, coastal zones and health and sanitation.

Experts say the Indian subcontinent will be one of the most affected regions in the world, with more frequent natural disasters of greater severity, more diseases such as malaria and greater hunger.

Ghosh said global warming was the fault of industrialized nations who should set higher cuts in emissions targets for themselves, rather than pressuring developing countries.

The world's richest countries, including the United States, contributed about 60 percent of total emissions in 2004 and account for 77 percent of cumulative emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution, a U.S. study reported this month.

"Developing countries like India have not historically, are not now and will not in the foreseeable future be a significant contributor to emissions," said Ghosh.

"Any legally mandated measures for reducing emissions are likely to have significant adverse impacts on GDP growth and this will have serious implications for poverty alleviation efforts."

He urged the West to do more to help developing countries adapt to the impact of climate change.

"Climate change impacts will largely affect the poor and their livelihoods and lives will be at risk," he said.