RTI filings reveal huge gaps in government's climate policy
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COMMENTS 
Answers given by the PMO and the environment ministry to RTI filings on India’s climate change policy and preparedness show that there is little interest in the issue, and even less knowledge
Even as India prepares to attend yet another international climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, on November 29, 2010, right to information (RTI) filings over the past few months show that the Indian government has no coherent climate change policy or strategy in place apart from the oft-quoted one that development will always win over mitigation.
Climate Revolution Initiative, a public awareness campaign that seeks to transform the social and political climate on climate change in India, filed 125 RTI queries on the government’s climate change policy. The answers to the questions show that the government has no process to monitor climate change, does not recognise the urgency of the issue, has no knowledge as to whether limiting global temperature rise to 2°C will ensure safety to Indian citizens, does not reveal climate policy documents, and has no strategy to contain big emitters.
No process exists within the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) or the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to identify and prioritise the latest scientific information on climate change, although these are the two authorities that play a key role in determining India’s climate policy. For example, the Copenhagen Diagnosis published in late-2009, and UNEP’s Climate Change Compendium published in October 2009, observed changes in the present climate and new predictions of future effects that go far beyond the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But such information apparently does not filter through to those who need to know about it.
In reply to another query, the government admitted it has no knowledge as to whether limiting global temperature rise to 2°C, agreed at Copenhagen last year, will ensure safety to Indian citizens. Nor does it have any position on atmospheric CO2 targets required to keep temperatures under 2°C. Recent reports suggest that 300-325 ppm of CO2 concentration may be necessary to keep warming under 2 degrees, not 450 ppm as the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said.
Climate Revolution Initiative concludes that the PMO and MoEF are not making useful information public. An RTI filing for information on the climate policy formation process for international climate negotiations was denied. RTI applications seeking copies of briefs given to Indian negotiators at international climate negotiations, and reports submitted by them to the PMO, have also been rejected by the government on the grounds that the disclosures “may affect the scientific and economic interests of the country”.
The government has no strategy, plans or concern for ensuring that the largest greenhouse gas-emitting nations commit to emissions reductions.
RTI requests filed with the MoEF and PMO sought information on India’s strategy to ensure that developed countries adhere to emissions reduction commitments. The government replied that it could not produce any strategy document.
Source: Climate Revolution Initiative
http://www.climaterevolution.net/, November 2010