'United States can't interfere in India's domestic climate actions'

Dismissing the US claims that India's domestic climate actions can be challenged, top environmentalist RK Pachauri today made it clear there was no power granted to America in the Copenhagen accord for such interference.
 
The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was reacting to White House senior advisor David Axelrod's remark that the climate accord allows US to not only unilaterally review India's progress but also challenge the country if it failed to meet its domestic climate targets.

Pachauri rejected the observation as an attempt by the Obama administration to "win domestic favour" and categorically stated that "there is no provision in the accord for such interference."

"What they (Obama aides) are trying is essentially to convince the Senators that they would be able to pressure China and India on climate actions. I think they want to project that only because they want to get passage of the bill (Cap and Trade Bill related to carbon emission) that has been introduced in the Senate. Apart from that, I don't think we should read much between the lines," he told PTI.

Pachauri also maintained that there was no pressure on India "otherwise we would have been accepting monitoring, reporting and verification which is what the US wanted to start with (at the Copenhagen Summit).

"We (India) clearly resisted with that and I think that language in limited, non binding agreement is very clear. It talks about consultation and analysis. And how can they (US) challenge us on that or for that matter China or any other country which has supported the accord," Pachauri said.

In fact, the consultation and analysis applies to all the countries including the US, he said. Axelrod had said, "Now China and India have set goals combating climate change. We are going to be able to review what they are doing. We are going to be able to challenge them if they do not meet those goals."

The US official's remark had invited sharp criticism from the Opposition which attacked the government for compromising with India's concerns on emission cuts at the Danish capital.