US looks to shared goals instead of differences with India

INDIA AND THE US HAVE DEEP DIFFERENCES ON THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ALARMING RISE IN GLOBAL WARMING

The United States on Monday sought to underplay differences with India on some crucial climate change issues, choosing to highlight instead shared commitments and goals.

When asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s article in Financial Times asking developed countries to do more, US energy secretary Ernest Moniz spoke about shared goals.

Moniz said Prime Minister Modi “has been one of the prime drivers along with President (Barack) Obama and President (Francois) Hollande of France of the innovation initiative”.

“He is very committed, as we all are, to the idea that as we drive down the costs of clean energy technology we will all be able to be more ambitious in the future”, he added.

India is among the 20 countries that will announce Mission Innovation in Paris committing themselves to doubling clean energy technology R&D investments over the next five years.

India and the US have deep differences on the basic principle who is responsible for the alarming rise in global warming and who should, then, contribute more to its mitigation.

“The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities should be the bedrock of our collective enterprise,” Modi wrote in the signed article. “Anything else would be morally wrong.’

“Justice demands that, with what little carbon we can still safely burn, developing countries are allowed to grow. The lifestyles of a few must not crowd out opportunities for the many still on the first steps of the development ladder.”

The US and other developed countries, who are thus expected to do more, have long argued for all nations to share equal responsibility, saying any other formula will be a deal-breaker.

Secretary of state John Kerry called India the “biggest challenge” in an interview also to Financial Times recently.