India will take up a lead role on global carbon budget: Ramesh

India will take up a leadership role on the issues of global carbon budget and seek support from various countries in equitable access to atmospheric space in the run up to the Cancun climate change meet, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said in Mumbai on Monday.

India cannot and will not accept any agreement which does not have its fundamental principle of "equity and equitable access to Global Atmospheric Space," he said at the two-day conference on 'Global Carbon budgets and equity in climate change,' at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

"In the next six months in the run-up to Cancun, India will take the leadership role on the issue of a global carbon budget," Ramesh said.

Our strategy must also be based on both per capita emission principle along with per capita income, which are "constituent elements of equity strategy," he stressed.

"We have strong support from China, Brazil, South Africa and when I reach Rome today, I will be talking to German and French leaders too to gain more support on equity and equitable access to global atmospheric space," he said.

"This is a matter of survival for us and when we talk about equity, we talk about development," he said adding, "We are arguing for international equity and at the same time, personally I believe that it is the responsibility of the government of India to ensure domestic equity also."

Ramesh said India will be a great beneficiary if the global carbon budget principle is accepted as the country is a late comer in high growth plane.

"India stands to gain maximum from carbon budget approach because we are creditors and we have not used carbon space which has been quantified by a German think tank publication," he said.

In his key-note address, the Executive Director of South Centre from Geneva Martin Khor agreed with Indian stand on equitable access to atmospheric space in carbon budgeting at the forthcoming negotiating tables in Brazil and Cancun.

Khor, however, said India has to stress on the operationalisation, based strongly on scientific inputs in terms of technology and finance.

T Jayaraman of the TISS presented his paper on 'Global Carbon budgets and burden sharing regimes' which will be taken for debate for the next two days.

Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry is collaborating with TISS on this project, called for more such academic centres to participate on bringing about new ideas which may be different from conventional thinking.

"Opportunities must be provided for the government with new ideas by the academic and research analysts, and the government will support such efforts," he added.

First Published: Jun 28, 2010 15:18 IST