India's greenhouse gas emissions rise by 58%

[Judi Lynn]

India's greenhouse gas emissions rise by 58%
Energy sector responsible for over half of India's rise in emissions, says a new government report
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 May 2010 15.06 BST



Traffic on the highway in Delhi, India. The country's emissions rose
emissions rose by 58 per cent between 1994 and 2007.
Photograph: Gurinder Osan/AP

India's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose by 58 per cent between 1994 and 2007 with the energy sector contributing over half of the emissions, a new government report said.

But India's emissions per unit national wealth (or gross domestic product), a measure of GHG intensity, declined by 30 per cent during this period, the report showed.

India released its last emissions estimate in 1994. Minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh, who released the new report yesterday, said India was the first developing country to release 'updated' estimates.

India's emissions are up from 1.2 billion tonnes in 1994 to 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2007.

The country now ranks fifth globally in total GHG emissions, behind the United States, China, the European Union and Russia in 2007. The emissions of the United States and China are four times that of India in 2007.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/12/india-greenhouse-gas-emissions-rise