Developed nations must cut emissions to tolerable levels: PM

New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) In the run-up to the Copehnagen
summit, India on Thursday asked rich nations to make "serious"
efforts to bring down their greenhouse gas emissions to
tolerable levels and asserted that developing countries
"cannot and will not" compromise on development.
"If developed countries make a serious effort to bring
their per capita emissions within tolerable levels, they will
unleash large resources directed towards research," Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh said inaugurating a High Level
Conference on Climate Change here.
Making it clear that there was no shift in India's stand
on climate change negotiations, he said developing countries
"cannot and will not" compromise on development.
"We stand committed that our per capita carbon emissions
will never exceed the average of the per capita carbon
emissions of developed countries," he told the conference in
the presence of Maldives President Mohammad Nasheed.
Singh said as responsible members of the international
community, the developing countries along with other members
of the global community, must do their bit to keep emission
footprint within levels that are sustainable and equitable.
"Equating GHG emissions across nations on a per capita
basis is the only just and fair basis for a long-term global
arrangement on climate change," the Prime Minister said.
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