“I do understand and fully sympathize with the notion that India’s
paramount commitment to development and eradicating poverty is
essential,” Mr. Kerry said in a speech at the start of a two-day visit.
“But we have to recognize that a collective failure to meet our
collective climate challenge would inhibit all countries’ dreams of
growth and development.”
In an effort to prod the Indians to act, Mr. Kerry warned that climate
change could cause India to endure excessive heat waves, prolonged
droughts, intense flooding and shortages of food and water.
“The worst consequences of the climate crisis will confront people who
are the least able to be able to cope with them,” he said.
Mr. Kerry has long been active on the issue of climate change. His
speech was part of a broader push by the Obama administration that
includes a presidential address,
scheduled for Tuesday, on steps the White House plans to take
domestically, including establishing the first limits on carbon
emissions from new and existing power plants.
Mr. Obama is also expected to pledge to lead a global effort to reduce
climate-altering emissions and help both the poorest nations and newly
industrializing countries like India adapt to the inevitable costs of a
warming planet.
India is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases in the
world, and it has consistently rejected efforts by developed countries
to slow down its energy consumption, fearing that it would retard its
economic growth and hamper its drive to reduce poverty. India now ranks
third in the world in production of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent
heat-trapping gas, behind China and the United States.
By/Por: MICHAEL R. GORDON and
JOHN M. BRODER
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