Policy Wise

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In an op-ed in the Indian Express, the chairman of Shell India, Vikram Mehta argues,

Will the fact that growth (or rather the limitations on growth) is the peg on which India is hanging its objections at the international level sidetrack it from taking appropriate domestic measures to weaken the link between economic growth and atmospheric pollution? Is it conceivable that in the noise of multilateralism India will lose sight of the fact that growth and carbon mitigation are positively correlated; that while growth has no doubt contributed to pollution — emissions in China and India have in absolute terms grown 5 times faster than the US since 1990 and this trend is not decelerating — it is the condition precedent for building the financial resources, the technologies, the infrastructure and indeed the political will to redeem its consequences

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Mehta is confusing two separate issues here. There is little doubt that the government and the industry should work towards mitigating global warming by increasing investment in alternative sources of energy or more efficient energy usage. However, that, by it self, doesn’t mean that in climate change discussions, India should offer unilateral concessions. One is something which will benefit the Indian industry in the long term; the other is a complex multilateral negotiation where concessions are required from all sides and the principle of ”polluter pays” must be upheld.

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