India should encash on huge Carbon Trading market: Expert

Bangalore, June 14 (UNI) India holds a major share of 31 per cent in the world Carbon Trading market, estimating to 10 billion Dollars, and this should be used to contribute towards fighting climate change and regenerate environment, World Environment Foundation (WEF) President M R Madhav Mehra said today.

In an informal interaction with reporters here, he said carbon trading was becoming increasingly popular world over with more and more companies opting to invest in it. In India about 100 companies had got itself enlisted in this regard. The United Nations Organisation had established two exchanges, one each in the US and Europe, for the purpose of carbon trading.

The floor price of carbon trading was now at 17 Dollars for each tonne of carbon momnoxide produced. It was expected to go up to 40 Dollars in two years and to 100 Dollars by 2012.

He called for a pro-active plan to combat climate change and regenerate environment by bringing in stringent steps. Dissenters of climate change were losing credibility in the face of overwhelming evidence that man-made effects on climate were real. Even a detractor like US President George Bush had admitted the hazards of being 'addicted to oil,' Dr Mehra said.

''In the United States, the per capita use of natural material is the highest with 80 tonnes. Thanks to India being a poor country, it remained at six tones per person. This should be brought down. A new economics for minimising pollution should be brought about by using market mechanism like rewards for those who contribute for minimising pollution and penalty for those who cause increase of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere,'' he said.

WEF had chalked out a eleven-point action plan 'PROACTIVATE' to combat climate change. It called for investments in improving energy efficiency and popularising generation of energy using solar and wind.

Dr Mehra said pollutors like large scale industries should adopt zero waste and closed loop systems by maximising the recycling of waste, capturing carbon dioxide from the air by developing forests and turning to renewables and decarbonisation. The use of fossil fuels, which contributed for 75 per cent of the world's energy, should be minimised and instead investments should be made in green technologies and green stock.

He said ''A bizarre irony lurks the world behind the climate change debate. It is not realised that climate change can be halted not at cost, but profit. Investments in improving energy efficiency can offer rich dividends to companies. Solar cells has become competitive in energy usage, both in villages and cities, and electricity generation using wind energy promises to become the foundation of a new eco-economy.''

UNI