Collaboration, not competition the way forward for a successful deal on climate change: Shyam Saran

New Delhi, Nov. 10 (ANI): Climate change is a global problem and its solution should come through collaboration between developed and developing countries, according to Shyam Saran, Prime Minister of India's Special envoy on climate change.

To arrive at a deal, there is a need to create a global platform through which clean technology can be shared between developed and developing countries, he said.

Saran was speaking at the session on "Trade and Climate Change: Economic Imperative or Green Imperialism?" at the closing day of the 25th India Economic Summit being jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Economic Forum, here today.

He further added that a global deal must lead to successful transfer of technology from developed to developing countries. India has a great stake in the global pact on climate change and as a responsible country it has been unilaterally taking measures to reduce its carbon foot print, he said.

Programmes such as the National Action Plan on Climate Change and the National Solar Mission reflect India's commitment in the direction. He however added that, India is still a developing country with severe constraints on resources, which must be recognized by developed countries. The outcome of the recent meetings, held in Barcelona, on climate change has not been very encouraging, he added.

Saran said though there is anecdotal evidence of melting of Himalayan glaciers because of climate change, additional information and clarity may be needed to understand the impact in greater detail.

William A Reinsch, President, National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), USA, said the world is in the middle of a paradigm shift and added that major developing countries like India and China would be the source of innovation in green technology in future. He further added that a global deal on climate change must encompass all the issues such as protection of intellectual property and carbon emission targets.

Lord Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, India; Observatory, London School of Economics, United Kingdom said, a deal in Copenhagen would be fundamental to the global fight against Climate Change.

He said contrary to popular perception, there is no competition between high growth and climate responsibility. He said using green technology increases costs by only one to two percent. He further added that a sound national policy on climate change must create the right kind of incentives for greater investment in clean technology.

Ben J Verwaayen, Chief Executive Officer, Alcatel-Lucent, France called upon the international negotiators on Climate Change negotiations to show a sense of urgency towards a successful conclusion of negotiations on the issue. He said, it is very important not to loose momentum in the negotiations, at this stage.

Suresh Vaswani, Joint Chief Executive Officer, IT Business and Member of the Board, Wipro said, the private sector must show lot more aggression in reducing their carbon emissions, which would also help in reducing their costs.

Deepak Puri, Chairman. Chairman and Managing Director, Moser Baer, India said, investment in clean technology provides a great business opportunity for the private sector and added that the sector has potential to grow to 250 billion dollars by 2020 and to one trillion dollars by 2050. (ANI)