First China-India climate change study released

A new collaborative report has provided practical recommendations for greater cooperation between China and India in addressing climate change. "The China India Low Carbon Study," the first project of its kind, was launched on Monday at an event in Beijing featuring top academics. The study examines the main factors in low carbon development -- financing, low carbon technologies and on-the-ground implementation. "The two countries operate in similar contexts in terms of local and global environmental issues that confront them today and will become increasingly important in the future. While economic capabilities and institutional systems vary between the two, coordinated knowledge-driven processes between China and India will be instrumental in moving both toward global sustainability goals," said Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, at the launch. The report builds a case for exchange between China and India. It notes that developing nations are more likely to focus on innovation that contributes to local environmental benefits and to human development, and calls for more public sector funding for low carbon technologies. It also identifies several priority sectors and areas for technology cooperation between China and India, including clean coal incineration and power generation technologies, energy-saving technologies in the industrial, building and transportation sectors, wind power utilization, solar power utilization and carbon capture. "As developing countries with a large population, both China and India would like to pursue the low carbon development path. We aim for less factor input and improved efficiency," said Zou Ji, deputy director general of the National Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation Center. Under the Copenhagen Accord signed in 2009, China and India have committed to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent and 20 to 25 percent respectively by 2020 from 2005 levels. The study is expected to help China and India to honor that commitment as it suggests ways in which they can better channel funding toward investing in a low carbon economy, involving more participation of local government in China and a stimulus package to strengthen climate change mitigation in India.