India and setting the tone for more political challenges ahead

In Gurgaon, India, a suburb of New Delhi, on July 19th, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited an office that has been designed to highlight energy efficiency and green building practices. Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment and forests minister took the opportunity to tell Clinton that India feels pressured to reduce carbon emissions and was concerned that India could expect carbon tariffs on exports, even though their emissions are far less on a per capita basis. “We are simply not in a position to take over legally binding emission reduction targets,” Even so, Mr. Ramesh declared at the news conference: “That does not mean that we are oblivious of our responsibilities.”

As we make our way towards the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, the stance taken by both developed and developing countries represents the challenges we face for success at negotiating a climate change treaty.

Countries from around the world speak of who is to blame, and how much they are willing to participate, but in the end we have to look at this problem globally and remind ourselves that how we behave will significantly impact our future generations, and that we may not have another chance…

We can look at our own lives and find ways to be proactive environmentally; giving voice through action. We must believe that out leaders will listen, and that significant change is possible even with these political hurdles.