Short article on India and carbon emissions

Blog from 'ethical man' from the BBC's Newsnight programme

Quite a short article - I presume there will be an ongoing series of posts and broadcasts from India - with interesting figures on India's position in the topic of climate change.
The figures are brief, though, and though there is a brief mention of the Indian Parliament raising the issue (allegedly for the first time):
"I opened the Times of India over breakfast to find that the Indian parliament had scheduled May the 8th for its first ever debate on India’s role in global warming."

... there is very little coverage of the opinions and intentions of the business leaders of India and of the opinions and levels of awareness of the common people, from the burgeoning middle classes to the people on the street. It is this that makes me suspect there are more articles and Newsnight programmes to follow on this subject, recorded during the reporter's time there.

Interesting figures also here, though not surprising given the population levels in latter years and I suppose the levels of industrialisation in the early years:

"Between 1950 and 2000 each American produced 642.0 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Each Briton toted up 499.1 tonnes. Over the same period the average Indian was responsible for just 16.5 tonnes. That is one of the lowest figures for any country on earth - 164th out of 185 countries - and is less than the average American is responsible for in a single year."

I did read a recent article though talking about the chronic lung disease suffered by those working in the high-density areas on Calcutta and such cities. I think there was a leader of a taxi trade union who was protesting against some changes.

I finally found it! Here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6614561.stm

So yeah, this quote caught my eye, and it reminded me of the old cynics saying that when a company makes the claim that "such a change to our products would be detrimental to our customers" it is usually not the customers who are threatened by the changes but the company's profits.

Cynicism aside, it is fairly clear that the customers in this case - the commuters using the services of the Bengal Taxi Association - are already suffering, and paying with their lives.

In a way, I would agree with some of his sentiments - because in such a high-density population centre, any changes to the transport infrastructure, be it from taxation or legislation prohibiting certain classes of vehicles, could probably have a significant effect on the economy. Though for how long and by how much is a question I know I can't answer.

What are your thoughts on all this, Upasna and Vinay? Assuming Vinay can finally remember who I am, haha :)