First report of India-China joint climate study released

BEIJING: Facing similar challenges in dealing with rising pollution levels in their top cities, India and China today released for the first time a joint report to address the issues of climate change, providing practical recommendations for greater bilateral cooperation.

'The China India Low Carbon Study', the first project of its kind, was launched on the sidelines of the third Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), here attended, among others, by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The study examines the main factors in low carbon development - financing, low carbon technologies and on-the- ground implementation, Nobel Peace Prize winner and chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Rajendra K Pachauri told the gathering.

"The two countries operate in similar contexts in terms of local and global environmental issues that confront them today and will become increasingly important in the future," said Pachauri, who released the report.

"While economic capabilities and institutional systems vary between the two, coordinated knowledge-driven processes between China and India will be instrumental in moving both toward global sustainability goals," he said.

During the pre-launch session yesterday, he cautioned that pollution levels are rising progressively in New Delhi and other cities.

While the recent study by Yale University - according to which pollution levels in New Delhi were higher than in Beijing - might have quoted data from the worst period of the year, the data by the Met officials in Delhi has gaps too, he said.

"It may very well be the study they are quoting is that of the worst period during the year," he said, responding to a question.

But at the same, he said the situation is progressively getting worse in Delhi and Bangalore and even in second-rung cities like Ludhiana.

China is the top carbon dioxide emitter in the world while India is the third highest emitter after the US, according to 2012 data.