A man holds a placard as he takes part in a Global Climate Walk in New Delhi yesterday. Some 150 leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the start of the Paris conference on climate change.

Agencies/New Delhi


India is going into the climate summit in Paris in a positive mood and will not be bullied, the environment minister said upon arrival in the French capital, news reports said yesterday.
India, currently the third-largest producer of greenhouse gases after China and the US, has been criticised for failing to commit to concrete emissions-reduction targets.
The country is struggling to balance attempts to raise millions out of poverty with rising pollution levels from fossil fuels. The government said in October that it would cut its rate of carbon emissions relative to gross domestic product by one-third over the next 15 years.
It would also generate 40% of its power from renewable and non-fossil sources by 2030.
“If some tries to bully India, India won’t be (bullied). That message is very clear,” Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar told NDTV news channel.
“What we are saying is that we are very positive. We are with an open mind. We are giving alternate suggestions. We are proposing, not opposing,” he said.
“Unless some space is vacated by the developed world who have occupied two-thirds of the carbon space ... space will not be available for the developing world and agreements won’t happen,” Javadekar said.
India is set to make a significant impact at the conference, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiling the country’s position today, the opening day.
The prime minister will be among some 150 heads of state and government who have, thus far, consented to attend the event - officially called the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Around 50,000 participants, including 25,000 delegates and stakeholders from 196 nations, are to converge in the French capital to forge a legally-binding deal to protect the environment from global warming, without sidestepping the aspirations of poor and developing nations.
“Developed countries have to walk the talk,” Javadekar said ahead of the crucial meeting, hoping for some flexibility from rich nations led by US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
He also listed the main criteria: A pact on keeping the rise in global temperatures at below 2 degrees Celsius, monitoring mechanism on commitments by countries, steps to raise $100bn annually for a climate fund, and technology transfer from developed to developing nations.
On the opening day, Modi and President Hollande will propose a collaborative pact among 122 countries, many of them located between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, for an alliance to be named the International Agency for Solar Policy and Application.
“We must all do our part. For India a target of 175 GW of additional capacity in renewable energy by 2022 and reduction in emission intensity of 33-35% by 2030 are just two of the steps of a comprehensive strategy,” Modi had said at a business event in London earlier this month.