By Dene-Hern Chen and Khuon Narim - July 4, 2013, Cambodia Daily
International donors, including the U.S., Australia, the European
Union and the World Bank, have urged the Cambodian government to
redesign a massive hydropower project in Stung Treng province that
environmentalists say will deplete fisheries and submit it to the Mekong
River Commission (MRC) for consultation.
In a joint statement dated June 28 and released Wednesday, the donors
said the 400-MW Lower Sesan 2 dam—which will be located on two Mekong
River tributaries—would have widespread impacts on the fisheries and
affect thousands of villagers living in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
“Given the potentially detrimental regional effects of the Lower
Sesan 2 dam in its current design (including on fish migration, sediment
flow and the resettlement of local communities), Development Partners
urge the Royal Government of Cambodia to reconsider the project’s
design,” the statement says.
The controversial project, located at the confluence of the Sesan and
Srepok rivers, has drawn criticism from scientists and NGOs for its
widespread social and environmental impacts. They expect it to cause a 9
percent drop in fish stock for the entire Mekong River basin, displace
more than 5,000 villagers and impact more than 100,000 residents
living up and downstream from the dam.
Due to these concerns, the donors are calling for Cambodia to
“voluntarily submit” the project for a regional consultation process so
the MRC’s four countries can discuss ways to limit negative effects of
the dam. “Development Partners stand ready to support the Royal
Government of Cambodia’s efforts to improve the performance and
sustainability of this project,” the statement says.
Donors also asked Laos to submit redesign plans for the 1,285-MW
Xayaburi dam, as well as the environmental impact assessment for the Don
Sahong dam, which is located in Laos about 2 km from the Cambodian
border.
Laos has previously said that it redesigned the Xayaburi dam to make
it more sustainable, but the plans have not been made public.
Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director for International
Rivers, said that submitting the Lower Sesan 2 dam project to the MRC
for consultation is “the responsible thing to do.” “Dams such as the
Xayaburi and Lower Sesan 2 risk jeopardizing regional commitments and
the Mekong River,” Ms. Trandem said. “While the Lao government has
ignored its responsibilities, the risks are too great for Cambodia to do
the same.”
Siek Mekong, chief of Srekor commune—which will be flooded by the
Lower Sesan 2 dam’s 36,000-hectare reservoir—welcomed the donors’
statement Wednesday............
Read more...
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Lao dam unapproved yet under way: NGO
- Last Updated on 27 June 2013
- By Melissa McMorran, Phnom Penh Post
The construction of Don Sahong Dam, the second of 11 potential and controversial Mekong mainstream dams, is moving ahead without approval from Mekong River Commission members, according to a conservationist group report.
Located less than two kilometres from the Cambodian-Lao border, the dam has been slammed for its likely impact on Cambodian fisheries – as well as those of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
The 240MW dam is being developed by Malaysian engineering and construction company Mega First Corporation Bhd (MFCB), with most of the electricity expected to be sold to Thailand and Cambodia.
Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director for International Rivers, an environmental and human rights organisation, said when the group visited the site last week villagers told them they were recruited by MFCB to place markers around the area that would need to be cleared for the dam’s access roads and bridges to be constructed.
“It is clear the Don Sahong Dam is following the same trajectory that the Xayaburi Dam took, in which secrecy and illicit project implementation topples regional cooperation,” Trandem said yesterday.
The much larger, 1,285MW Xayaburi Dam – the first of the mainstream Mekong projects – was also rumoured to have been preliminarily constructed without prior consultation with other Mekong River Commission (MRC) member states.
Te Navuth, secretary-general of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, said they have yet to be notified of any preliminary construction of the Don Sahong Dam.
“They should send a request to the four member countries [of the MRC],” Navuth said. “We did not receive any documentation for prior consultation on this project yet.”
Under the 1995 Mekong Agreement, in order to proceed with the construction of such a dam, all member countries must be consulted.
Although the Don Sahong Dam’s 2012 Environmental Impact Assessment report has not yet been released to the public, many are already conscious of the potential threat to fish migration and the vocation of fishermen who depend on the Mekong River.
“The Don Sahong Dam would be an environmental calamity,” said Pianporn Deetes, International Rivers’ Thailand campaign coordinator. “If built, the dam will inevitably and irreversibly block the only channel in the Khone Falls that fish can migrate upstream and downstream in the dry season, leading to serious impacts on fish catches, species and the livelihoods of millions in the region.”
According to the MRC’s Strategic Environmental Assessment, the excavation process, which would require explosives to clear 1.9 million cubic metres of sediment from the riverbed, would devastate the river’s ecosystem, and 60 per cent of the waterflow into the branches of the Mekong River and 10-12 million tonnes of sediment would be diverted into the dam’s head.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Mekong Dams Could Be Threat to Cambodia’s Food Security
By David Kaner and Kaing Menghun - June 27, 2013
The construction of two hydroelectric dams proposed for the Mekong River would lead to steep declines in the availability of fish-an essential source of protein for Cambodians- potentially threatening food security, according to a new report by the fisheries administration.
The study by the administration’s Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute, released Wednesday and conducted in collaboration with the Danish International Development Agency, WWF and Oxfam Australia, found that Cambodians depend on fish for nearly a fifth of their total food intake. Fish and other aquatic animals are also the source of more than three-quarters of protein consumed daily. …
The report predicts that construction of the Stung Treng Dam alone would slash aquatic yields by between 6 and 24 percent by 2030, while the Sambor dam in Kratie province, with or without the construction of Stung Treng, would reduce yields by 16 to 31 percent. …
From the original text......
The construction of two hydroelectric dams proposed for the Mekong River would lead to steep declines in the availability of fish-an essential source of protein for Cambodians- potentially threatening food security, according to a new report by the fisheries administration.
The study by the administration’s Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute, released Wednesday and conducted in collaboration with the Danish International Development Agency, WWF and Oxfam Australia, found that Cambodians depend on fish for nearly a fifth of their total food intake. Fish and other aquatic animals are also the source of more than three-quarters of protein consumed daily. …
The report predicts that construction of the Stung Treng Dam alone would slash aquatic yields by between 6 and 24 percent by 2030, while the Sambor dam in Kratie province, with or without the construction of Stung Treng, would reduce yields by 16 to 31 percent. …
From the original text......
Lao Dams, Mining Ruining Sekong Water Quality in Cambodia
RFA: 2013-06-25
Dam-building and gold mining in southern Laos are ruining water
quality downstream on the Sekong River in Cambodia, where villagers are
no longer able drink or use the water, according to an environmental
group.
The activities undertaken by Lao and Vietnamese companies on the Sekong’s tributaries are making the river water muddy and full of silt, said Meach Mean of the Cambodia-based 3S Rivers Protection Network, which monitors environmental issues in the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok rivers in the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia border area.
Because of the sediment in the Sekong, villagers downstream in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province do not dare drink the water from the river and want the Lao government to address the problem, according to the group.
“For Cambodians, the important thing is that countries should not cause problems for other countries, whether through building dams or through dredging for gold,” Meach Mean said.
Currently, the muddy waters were being caused by construction work under way on the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam on the Nam Noy River, a Sekong tributary, Meach Mean said.
“The construction of the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy dam is causing the Nam Noy River… to become very silty,” before it flows into the Sekong, he said.
The dam, which will produce electricity for export to Thailand after it is completed in 2018, is one of a dozen hydropower projects Laos has planned or under way on the Sekong and its tributaries, including a series on the Sekaman that had previously caused silt downstream.
The Sekaman dams had been a “serious cause” of water quality problems in Cambodia until work on the Sekaman 3 wrapped up last year and construction on the Sekaman 1 was suspended over the past year, Meach Mean said.
Dredging for gold
Now, dredging for gold on the river’s tributaries in southern Laos’s Attapeu and Sekong provinces has become a bigger issue than the muddiness caused by dam construction, he said.
“The main problem now is the dredging of the Xekaman and Xesou Rivers in Attapeu province and the Sekong River in Sekong province for gold by Vietnamese companies and Lao companies working with Vietnamese companies.”
The companies use backhoes to scoop up soil from streams and riverbanks, then extract the gold onsite using chemicals, which likely include mercury, he said.
“This obviously causes a lot of turbidity downstream,” he said, referring to a measure of how much particulate is suspended in the water.
Previously, dredging had been done by Chinese-owned boats in the Sekong River, but now the heavy machinery used by Vietnamese companies is causing more sediment to flow downstream.
Chemicals such as mercury are often used in the mining process to get gold out of rock, and residents in southern Laos have complained of toxic pollution from gold mining along the Sekong waters for years.
Sekong River Basin
Some 30,000 Cambodians and tens of thousands of Laotians—many of them members of ethnic minorities in both countries—live in the Sekong River Basin and rely on the waters for their livelihoods.
Environmental groups have said dams in the basin threaten fish stocks and sediment flows, with global green group International Rivers warning that little study has been done on what kind of long-term effects the dams will have on local communities.
The only large dam in full operation so far in the Sekong River Basin, the Houy Ho which was completed in 1998, proved “disastrous” for downstream communities in Laos and Cambodia, according to International Rivers.
The projects are part of a “hydro boom” in land-locked, impoverished Laos, which has mountainous terrain suited to hydropower and is aiming to become the “battery” of power-hungry Southeast Asia by selling electricity to its neighbors.
Laos has come under fire from neighboring Cambodia and Vietnam for plowing ahead with construction on the Xayaburi dam, the first dam across the main stem of the Mekong River, over their objections.
The Sekong and the other 3S Rivers form important tributaries flowing into the 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) Mekong, Southeast Asia’s key artery.
'Little attention' to local communities
Earlier this month, two hundred environmentalists and riparian community representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and southwestern China met in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to discuss how dams on the Mekong and the 3S rivers built by Laos and other countries were affecting their local river environments and living standards.
Tek Vannara, deputy director of the Cambodia NGO Forum that hosted the meeting, said regional governments including Laos “pay little attention” to local communities when making the decisions to build the dams.
According to Laos’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, as of March Laos had 14 dams under construction across the country, 24 in the planning stage, and 32 in the feasibility study stage, in addition to 16 that had recently become operational.
Aside from selling electricity to its neighbors, Laos has also aimed to capitalize on its natural resources with mines, and its mining industry is growing fast.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, there are currently more than 150 mining firms in Laos operating more than 200 mining projects.
Significant gold reserves have been found in Laos’s southern provinces, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment said recently that foreign investors are interested in exploring new gold, lignite, and silver mines near the Sekong and Sekaman rivers.
Reported by RFA's Lao and Khmer Services. Translated by Viengsay Luangkhot and Samean Yun. Written in English with additional reporting by Rachel Vandenbrink.
A map showing Southeast Asia's 3S Rivers region. RFA
The activities undertaken by Lao and Vietnamese companies on the Sekong’s tributaries are making the river water muddy and full of silt, said Meach Mean of the Cambodia-based 3S Rivers Protection Network, which monitors environmental issues in the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok rivers in the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia border area.
Because of the sediment in the Sekong, villagers downstream in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province do not dare drink the water from the river and want the Lao government to address the problem, according to the group.
“For Cambodians, the important thing is that countries should not cause problems for other countries, whether through building dams or through dredging for gold,” Meach Mean said.
Currently, the muddy waters were being caused by construction work under way on the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam on the Nam Noy River, a Sekong tributary, Meach Mean said.
“The construction of the Xe Pian-Xe Nam Noy dam is causing the Nam Noy River… to become very silty,” before it flows into the Sekong, he said.
The dam, which will produce electricity for export to Thailand after it is completed in 2018, is one of a dozen hydropower projects Laos has planned or under way on the Sekong and its tributaries, including a series on the Sekaman that had previously caused silt downstream.
The Sekaman dams had been a “serious cause” of water quality problems in Cambodia until work on the Sekaman 3 wrapped up last year and construction on the Sekaman 1 was suspended over the past year, Meach Mean said.
Dredging for gold
Now, dredging for gold on the river’s tributaries in southern Laos’s Attapeu and Sekong provinces has become a bigger issue than the muddiness caused by dam construction, he said.
“The main problem now is the dredging of the Xekaman and Xesou Rivers in Attapeu province and the Sekong River in Sekong province for gold by Vietnamese companies and Lao companies working with Vietnamese companies.”
The companies use backhoes to scoop up soil from streams and riverbanks, then extract the gold onsite using chemicals, which likely include mercury, he said.
“This obviously causes a lot of turbidity downstream,” he said, referring to a measure of how much particulate is suspended in the water.
Previously, dredging had been done by Chinese-owned boats in the Sekong River, but now the heavy machinery used by Vietnamese companies is causing more sediment to flow downstream.
Chemicals such as mercury are often used in the mining process to get gold out of rock, and residents in southern Laos have complained of toxic pollution from gold mining along the Sekong waters for years.
Sekong River Basin
Some 30,000 Cambodians and tens of thousands of Laotians—many of them members of ethnic minorities in both countries—live in the Sekong River Basin and rely on the waters for their livelihoods.
Environmental groups have said dams in the basin threaten fish stocks and sediment flows, with global green group International Rivers warning that little study has been done on what kind of long-term effects the dams will have on local communities.
The only large dam in full operation so far in the Sekong River Basin, the Houy Ho which was completed in 1998, proved “disastrous” for downstream communities in Laos and Cambodia, according to International Rivers.
The projects are part of a “hydro boom” in land-locked, impoverished Laos, which has mountainous terrain suited to hydropower and is aiming to become the “battery” of power-hungry Southeast Asia by selling electricity to its neighbors.
Laos has come under fire from neighboring Cambodia and Vietnam for plowing ahead with construction on the Xayaburi dam, the first dam across the main stem of the Mekong River, over their objections.
The Sekong and the other 3S Rivers form important tributaries flowing into the 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) Mekong, Southeast Asia’s key artery.
'Little attention' to local communities
Earlier this month, two hundred environmentalists and riparian community representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and southwestern China met in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to discuss how dams on the Mekong and the 3S rivers built by Laos and other countries were affecting their local river environments and living standards.
Tek Vannara, deputy director of the Cambodia NGO Forum that hosted the meeting, said regional governments including Laos “pay little attention” to local communities when making the decisions to build the dams.
According to Laos’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, as of March Laos had 14 dams under construction across the country, 24 in the planning stage, and 32 in the feasibility study stage, in addition to 16 that had recently become operational.
Aside from selling electricity to its neighbors, Laos has also aimed to capitalize on its natural resources with mines, and its mining industry is growing fast.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, there are currently more than 150 mining firms in Laos operating more than 200 mining projects.
Significant gold reserves have been found in Laos’s southern provinces, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment said recently that foreign investors are interested in exploring new gold, lignite, and silver mines near the Sekong and Sekaman rivers.
Reported by RFA's Lao and Khmer Services. Translated by Viengsay Luangkhot and Samean Yun. Written in English with additional reporting by Rachel Vandenbrink.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Why is China investing so much in U.S. Solar and Wind?
By: Yingzhen Zhao
Courtesy of World Resources Institute WRI
The world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters—the United States and
China—have been forging a growing bond in combating climate change.
Just last week, President Obama and President Xi made a landmark agreement to work towards reducing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a potent greenhouse gas. And both the United States and China are leading global
investment and development of clean energy. The United States invested
$30.4 billion and added 16.9 GW of wind and solar capacity in 2012.
China invested $58.4 billion and added 19.2 GW in capacity.
U.S.-China cooperation on clean energy was the topic of discussion at an event last week at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s China Environment Forum. Experts from the World Resources Institute and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) looked at this cooperation from a seldom-discussed viewpoint –China’s renewable energy investments in the United States.
China’s Growing Overseas Investments in Renewable Energy
As new WRI analysis shows, Chinese companies have made at least 124 investments in solar and wind industries in 33 countries over the past decade (2002 – 2011). The United States is the number one destination of these investments, hosting at least eight wind projects and 24 solar projects. The majority of the investments went into solar PV power plant and wind farm development, while a few investments went into manufacturing or sales support.
Investment Drivers: The “Push-Pull” Effect
Experts from WRI and ACORE explored the various drivers behind such investments. From the China side, investments have been “pushed” out by market and industry factors, government policies, and strong financial support from the policy banks, such as the China Development Bank. Although China’s wind turbine and solar cell manufacturing industries have grown substantially, the market base for these industries is quite different. China’s solar industry relies on the international market for 95 percent of its sales, whereas its wind industry relies predominantly on the domestic market. Both industries are eyeing the United States for sustained or scaled-up market shares. Investment has proven an effective method to directly generate revenue and also create export opportunities for Chinese renewable energy companies. The Chinese government’s policies on “Strategic Emerging Industries” and “promoting healthy development of industries” call for both the solar and wind industries to grow internationally and pursue advanced technologies. Policy banks from China also actively provide funding for key companies’ overseas expansion.
The United States has also been “pulling” Chinese investments in. For example, the United States has abundant solar and wind natural resources. In windy regions, wind energy is already cost-competitive with fossil fuels. At both the federal and state level, policies exist to encourage renewable energy development. The federal Production Tax Credit is in place through the end of this year for wind power production, while the solar industry benefits from the Investment Tax Credit. At the state level, 29 states and Washington D.C. have set renewable energy portfolio targets. Although these policies don’t specifically target Chinese investors, they have served to attract many international energy investments to the United States. China is one of the major international investors.
Barriers to China’s Investment in U.S. Clean Energy
One major question arising from the recent event is the future of China’s solar and wind investments in the United States. Should the aforementioned drivers continue, they could help provide a promising future for continued investment. But barriers such as business culture differences and Chinese investors’ unfamiliarity with U.S. laws and policies are major factors to watch.
Other investment barriers include reviews of Chinese investments and rejections by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which Chinese investors sometimes perceive as problematic. Luckily, with early engagement and proactive compliance with U.S. policies, several major investment deals have been successfully executed recently. State-to-province cooperation is another platform where investments can be channeled. Already, California and China’s Jiangsu province have signed agreements on renewable energy cooperation.
In addition, the United States is currently experiencing close-to-flat energy demand growth. Therefore, increasing renewable energy generation capacity will need to be driven by a shift from fossil energy to renewable energy.
The Future of Clean Energy in the United States and China
The United States and China still face a lot of challenges in clean energy development, both within their own borders and with respect to their cooperation. Volatile renewable energy policies in the United States did not create an ideal enabling environment. On the other side of the Pacific, fast renewable energy development in China has caused many growing pains for the industry, such as the current inability of the electric grid to simultaneously assimilate all the installed wind power in China. Another major challenge is the trade tensions between the United States and China. For example, solar manufacturers, developers, and other stakeholders in both countries are debating the potential implications of the US-China solar panel anti-dumping cases on industry competitiveness and efforts to combat climate change. (For more examples of these trade cases, see the ChinaFAQs site.)
The United States and China recently issued a joint statement on climate change action, in which they committed to “set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world.” More strategic cooperation and learning from each other can hopefully ease existing problems and encourage healthy development of clean energy industries in both countries.
Original text here...
U.S.-China cooperation on clean energy was the topic of discussion at an event last week at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s China Environment Forum. Experts from the World Resources Institute and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) looked at this cooperation from a seldom-discussed viewpoint –China’s renewable energy investments in the United States.
China’s Growing Overseas Investments in Renewable Energy
As new WRI analysis shows, Chinese companies have made at least 124 investments in solar and wind industries in 33 countries over the past decade (2002 – 2011). The United States is the number one destination of these investments, hosting at least eight wind projects and 24 solar projects. The majority of the investments went into solar PV power plant and wind farm development, while a few investments went into manufacturing or sales support.
Investment Drivers: The “Push-Pull” Effect
Experts from WRI and ACORE explored the various drivers behind such investments. From the China side, investments have been “pushed” out by market and industry factors, government policies, and strong financial support from the policy banks, such as the China Development Bank. Although China’s wind turbine and solar cell manufacturing industries have grown substantially, the market base for these industries is quite different. China’s solar industry relies on the international market for 95 percent of its sales, whereas its wind industry relies predominantly on the domestic market. Both industries are eyeing the United States for sustained or scaled-up market shares. Investment has proven an effective method to directly generate revenue and also create export opportunities for Chinese renewable energy companies. The Chinese government’s policies on “Strategic Emerging Industries” and “promoting healthy development of industries” call for both the solar and wind industries to grow internationally and pursue advanced technologies. Policy banks from China also actively provide funding for key companies’ overseas expansion.
The United States has also been “pulling” Chinese investments in. For example, the United States has abundant solar and wind natural resources. In windy regions, wind energy is already cost-competitive with fossil fuels. At both the federal and state level, policies exist to encourage renewable energy development. The federal Production Tax Credit is in place through the end of this year for wind power production, while the solar industry benefits from the Investment Tax Credit. At the state level, 29 states and Washington D.C. have set renewable energy portfolio targets. Although these policies don’t specifically target Chinese investors, they have served to attract many international energy investments to the United States. China is one of the major international investors.
Barriers to China’s Investment in U.S. Clean Energy
One major question arising from the recent event is the future of China’s solar and wind investments in the United States. Should the aforementioned drivers continue, they could help provide a promising future for continued investment. But barriers such as business culture differences and Chinese investors’ unfamiliarity with U.S. laws and policies are major factors to watch.
Other investment barriers include reviews of Chinese investments and rejections by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which Chinese investors sometimes perceive as problematic. Luckily, with early engagement and proactive compliance with U.S. policies, several major investment deals have been successfully executed recently. State-to-province cooperation is another platform where investments can be channeled. Already, California and China’s Jiangsu province have signed agreements on renewable energy cooperation.
In addition, the United States is currently experiencing close-to-flat energy demand growth. Therefore, increasing renewable energy generation capacity will need to be driven by a shift from fossil energy to renewable energy.
The Future of Clean Energy in the United States and China
The United States and China still face a lot of challenges in clean energy development, both within their own borders and with respect to their cooperation. Volatile renewable energy policies in the United States did not create an ideal enabling environment. On the other side of the Pacific, fast renewable energy development in China has caused many growing pains for the industry, such as the current inability of the electric grid to simultaneously assimilate all the installed wind power in China. Another major challenge is the trade tensions between the United States and China. For example, solar manufacturers, developers, and other stakeholders in both countries are debating the potential implications of the US-China solar panel anti-dumping cases on industry competitiveness and efforts to combat climate change. (For more examples of these trade cases, see the ChinaFAQs site.)
The United States and China recently issued a joint statement on climate change action, in which they committed to “set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world.” More strategic cooperation and learning from each other can hopefully ease existing problems and encourage healthy development of clean energy industries in both countries.
Original text here...
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
India: As Deadly Floods Hit India, Kerry Calls on New Delhi to Address Climate Change
June 24, 2013
It was a fitting time to talk about the weather. With some 700 dead in the massive floods that have hit the northeastern state of Uttarakhand, new torrents of rain and landslides put rescue efforts on hold on Monday. At least 10,000 people are reported to still be stranded in some of the worst monsoon flooding in years in the region, an unfolding disaster that provided a dramatic backdrop for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry‘s two-day visit to India this week in which he called on the nation to be a more active partner in helping the U.S. battling climate change.
After expressing his condolences to the flood victims, Kerry said in a speech in New Delhi on Sunday night that the U.S. had donated $150,000 to the flood relief effort — “not the highest sum in the world,” he admitted, but “a beginning.” He went on to warn India not to dismiss the deadly intensity of the floods as a one-off tragedy. “Perhaps Mother Nature in her own way is telling us to heed some warnings,” Kerry said before a packed auditorium. “Today the science of climate change is screaming at us for action.”
(PHOTOS: Rains spark floods, landslides in northern India.): A boy sits on a ladder next to his flooded house with the rising water
level of river Yamuna after heavy monsoon rains in New Delhi June 19,
2013.
How to handle global climate change mitigation has been a sore point between the nations in the past. India, one of the fastest-growing greenhouse emitters, has argued for years that developing economies should not be held to the same standards of reducing emissions as developed countries, and that the imperative to develop and reduce poverty should trump India’s committing to emissions targets. India’s emissions per capita is a fraction of that of the U.S. India and other nations have backed down from refusing all targets, they have continued to emphasize that the global strategy for addressing climate change be based on equitable growth. “I fully sympathize with the notion that India’s paramount commitment to development and eradicating poverty is essential,” Kerry said. “But we have to recognize that a collective failure to meet our collective climate challenge would inhibit all countries’ dreams of growth and development.”
This is not Kerry’s first rodeo in India. In 2008, Kerry worked the Senate to get support for then President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s nuclear deal, which opened India’s civil nuclear facilities up to IAEA inspections and, in turn, paved the way for greater civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries. The agreement came at a time when tighter U.S.-India ties made a lot of sense to both parties in the shadow of China’s ascension on the world stage. In 2009, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began the India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, an important if slightly wonky recognition of the common interests the two countries share. During his visit, Kerry continued these talks with the Prime Minister and with India’s current Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid.
Ahead of the visit, observers in both countries expressed concerns that the bilateral relationship has grown stagnant or hung up on disagreements over trade issues. In an article published by India Ink on Monday, Khurshid wrote that the same friction that has arisen between India and the U.S. over the climate change issue — that the same rules do not necessarily apply to countries at such different stages of economic development — applies to other areas too, alluding, perhaps, to tensions over an Indian court ruling allowing India’s pharmaceutical industry to make a generic copy of a drug patented abroad. He writes:
The challenge before us is to reconcile competing self-interests and combine them into enlightened mutual interest…We both have constraints of democracy, which are exacerbated by the different levels of development and corresponding demands of our respective economies, societies and people. For instance, India at the moment is relatively low on carbon emissions. But those will increase as we address the developmental needs of our people, unless adequately provided to adapt to low-emission technology that is obviously costly. Developing countries like India expect that the United States and other developed countries will agree to binding targets to cut emissions, having had the advantage of several centuries of development. This competing logic applies to many sectors. The solutions lie in our mutual convergence at a middle ground.Kerry, at least when it comes to climate change, indicated that the two nations may not have the luxury of time to find that middle ground. While he said that the U.S. respects India’s prioritization of reducing poverty, he also did not give India much of a break, pointing out that the number of Indians without electricity is roughly equal to the population of the United States. Aggressively combating climate change and reducing energy poverty, he said, are interconnected. And as one of the most vulnerable countries to changing weather patterns, as the disaster in Uttarakhand has put on stark display, Kerry warned that India has a lot to lose for not taking swift action. “The worst consequences of the climate crisis,” he said, “will confront people who are the least able to be able to cope with them.”
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
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