Saturday, August 2, 2008

Indian official discusses adaptation

Commodity Online (India): In view of increasing prices of oil and natural gas, India must make a deliberate shift to renewable energy and ensure conservation of energy in energy-intensive sectors Promoting energy security underlies India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change due to be released shortly, according to Shyam Saran, Special Envoy to India's Prime Minister on Climate Change. Excerpts from an interview.

How will India reconcile the need for both adaptation and mitigation?

We believe that development is the best form of adaptation. When we talk of sustainable development, it implies both adaptation to climate change that has already taken place and is expected to take place in the foreseeable future. It also includes mitigation through the adoption of a strategy that, over time, moves the country to a growth pattern progressively less reliant on fossil fuels. We believe that development is the best form of adaptation. It is only with higher incomes that it becomes possible to increase resilience to changes in climatic patterns and unexpected climatic events. In agriculture, this includes the development of drought resistant crops, arid zone agricultural practices and shorter growth cycles. Therefore, adaptation is being built into our overall development strategies. This will go hand in hand with mitigation-related measures, such as the promotion of renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency.

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