G-8 should have clear green policy

Former Swedish prime minister speaks to Chetan Chauhan about what the world needs to do to check the abuse of environment.

Updated on: Jun 8, 2007, 11:40:21 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan

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Ola Ullsten, Swedish Prime Minister (1978-82), is a Golden Peacock Award winner for Environmental Leadership. He is also co-chairman of the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development. A member of several international environment groups, Ullsten spoke to Chetan Chauhan about what the world needs to do to check the abuse of environment.

Can the current changes in climate be checked?

We can cut down emissions if the European Union and the rest of the world reduce fossil fuel use by 20 per cent. Bio-fuels and renewable energy sources can be substitutes. World leaders should also agree to plant more trees and stop destruction of forests. Reduction in deforestation will result in carbon emission dropping by 20 per cent. Both steps will prevent release of 30 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, which, in my view, is substantial.

How can India negate the impact of global warming?

India has a lot of wasteland where forests can be grown. It will also have to stop deforestation. Even China is planting a lot of trees and making a difference. A tree starts working in carbon sequestration as soon as it is planted. India should also look at cleaning up its coal-based thermal plants.

India has opposed commitment to reduce carbon emission without proper compensation. Do you agree with the view?

I think India’s stand is reasonable. Leaving out developing countries will lead to imbalance but then the developed world has to work out the compensation. India and China are planning 800 coal power plants that will produce 2.56 million tonnes of carbon by 2012. It shows China and India will produce more pollution and with the economy growing the environment problems will also increase. I believe India should work towards reducing carbon emission. India should match its emission standards on coal burning with those of the European Union.

The United States is a world leader in carbon emission but makes no commitment to reduce it. Is that justified?

The US doesn’t want to have targets. It would rather seek goals through voluntary means. I don’t believe in that. The American stand is hampering global effort to curb emissions. The world went ahead without the US in the Kyoto Protocol but cannot do it any longer. I see hope as the US has softened its tough stand since Democrats took charge in the Congress. The G-8 conference can take an initiative but should not give in under any pressure from US.

What outcome are you expecting from the G-8 meeting on climate change?

They say they have woken up to climate change. That is a good sign. All governments need to declare themselves green. It needs political will. World leaders should talk about it sincerely. They (the G-8) should come out with a clear policy on climate change mitigation and environmentalists should be part of that.

Is global warming really so alarming?

The American Academy of Science has said global temperatures have risen thrice as fast in the last decade than they did till 1990. It is a wake-up call for all world leaders.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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