The industry today said it is "alarmed" over reports that the government may alter its negotiation stance at the forthcoming Copenhagen Summit on climate change, and drop the per-capita-basis emission reduction norms.
"We are alarmed by reports that the government may change its stance on the principle that emission of all countries should converge on per capita basis. We strongly suggest that per capita emission remains the basis for greenhouse gas emission reduction," Ficci president Harsh Pati Singhania said in a letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Singhania said the prime minister had also supported the principle of per capita emission cuts when he spoke recently at the Delhi High Level Conference on Climate Change, Technology Development and Transfer.
"It is important that India and other developing economies push for a climate change regime that has convergence of greenhouse gas emissions on equal per capita basis worldwide," the Ficci chief said.
The prime minister will be attending the Copenhagen Summit begining Monday on climate change along with a galaxy of world leaders, including US president Barack Obama.
India being the second most populous country, its per capita emission works out to its favour at 1.2 tonne annually against 20 tonne in the US.
Environment minister Jayram Ramesh is quoted as saying that the per capita emission reduction norms cannot remain the only plank for Indian negotiators. He described the country's low emission on this basis as "a historical accident".
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