"India Says Not a Disaster If Copenhagen Climate Talks Fail"

"NEW DELHI - India's environment minister said the country will not agree to binding emission targets and that it would not be a disaster if global climate change talks in December fail.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said India could not compromise on its domestic commitments by agreeing to binding emissions cuts, which it has rejected on the grounds that they hamper economic growth.

'It is possible for us to identify quantifiable commitments that India voluntarily and unilaterally takes as part of its domestic political agenda,' Ramesh said. 'The problem arises when you want to transplant these domestic commitments to binding international targets and I think that distance has to be bridged.'

But 'if we don't bridge it at Copenhagen now let's not believe that the world will come to a halt,' Ramesh told a gathering of business leaders in the capital New Delhi.

Developing countries such as India and China say rich countries ought to shoulder the main responsibility for mitigating global warming as they have historically emitted most of the greenhouse gases at the root of the problem."

AFP had the story September 11, 2009.