Beijing/New Delhi, November 27
India may come out with its own carbon emission targets that may be based on its economic growth levels, ahead of the climate summit in Copenhagen.

An indication to this effect was given by environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who met Premier Wen Jiabao, a day after China announced massive emission cut target up to 45 per cent by 2020.

Ramesh and Wen are believed to have discussed the strategies the two countries may adopt at the Copenhagen climate summit next month.

The Chinese government is said to have confirmed to him its opposition to allowing any international review of its environmental progamme, including carbon emission reduction, a stand India has also shared.

India is surprised by the high level of emission cuts announced by China yesterday by which it has pledged to reduce its carbon intensity by 40 to 45 per cent by 2020.

The minister is believed to be of the view that India cannot ignore emission target levels fixed on their own by countries like China, Brazil and South Africa. But India's targets may not be as high as that of China.

Ahead of his visit to China, Ramesh had said, “We (India and China) are on same page as far as negotiations are concerned but not as far as emissions are concerned. China today is the world's leading carbon emitter while India is on the fifth position.”

China’s emission level is 2.85 tonnes per thousand dollars of Gross Domestic Product compared to India's level which is 1.8 tonnes per thousand dollars of GDP.

The minister, who is here on a two-day visit to firm up the stand to be taken at the Copenhagen summit, plans to meet his counterparts from key developing countries like Brazil, South Africa besides China.

Interestingly, while Ramesh feels China’s declaration should be considered a wake-up call for India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Saran has said China’s decision to slow down carbon emissions by up to 40 per cent by 2020 did not amount to cutting down emissions.

Agency reports from Port of Spain quoted Saran as saying that India need not follow what China had decided since India already had ambitious action plans to shift dependability from carbon-based fuels to renewable energy sources like nuclear, solar and wind energy.

However, the US offer, followed by the Chinese announcement, has now put India under pressure to do more than it was currently doing, and announce at least voluntary quantified targets. While experts say China too has offered only voluntary cuts with no promise to accept any mandatory target in any international agreement, they fear that India may come under US-China pressure, fearing risk of getting isolated.

Environment Ministry sources, who insist that the minister’s trip to China before the Copenhagen Summit was completely unplanned, say the government is worried. The Parliament session is on and the minister was recently put in the dock in the Rajya Sabha over India’s changing position on the climate change issue.

The buzz in the ministry is that India always knew that China would make the announcements considering that it wants to further business relations with the US. “Which is why the minister had been hinting on softening the stand so that India does not get isolated from rest of developing nations on the issue,” they say.

They fear that now that China has announced that it would reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, India and other emerging economies may be forced to react accordingly and soften its stand ahead of the climate summit in December.

The fact is that the Indian government is divided on what its stand should be. There is one section that favours some voluntary limits on emissions, while the other wants it to remain firm on its current stand. In an attempt to allay the confusion regarding India’s stand on climate change issues in view of seemingly different views, Ramesh recently assured the Rajya Sabha saying that country stands firm on its original position.

However, he also said that his attempt was just to introduce an element of flexibility in view of changing international circumstances and give the country the image of a deal maker, while remaining firmly anchored to the UNFCC, the Kyoto protocol and the Bali Action Plan. Replying to a calling attention on “government’s changing position on climate change”, Ramesh, who has been accused of “undermining India’s sovereignty and bowing to America’s pressure”, specified that the country’s position on the ongoing climate change agreement negotiations was “clear, credible and consistent”.

India, China and other emerging economies have been spared from manadatory cuts in GHG emissions under the existing Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012 and a successor agreement of which is to be negotiated in Copenhagen.

The US and Australia among developed nations did not signed the agreement, but Australia last year joined in while the US still stayed away.

The US , the EU and other developed nations have been asking India, China and other nations to accept mandatory cuts due to their large population and an economy whose energy needs were dependent on hydrocarbons.