India will not bend to international pressure to cut emissions, the country’s Environment Minister said this week.

 

“India’s position is clear and categorical that we are simply not in a position to take any legally binding emissions reductions,” Jairam Ramesh said during a press conference with visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  

 

“It is not true that India is running away from mitigation,” Ramesh said. “India’s position, let me be clear, is that we are simply not in the position to take legally binding emissions targets.”

 

 

Getting committments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large and growing developing countries such as India, China and Brazil is seen as key for reaching a post-Kyoto agreement on climate change at the Copenhagen conference in December.

 

So far India, which has lower per capita emissions than countries like Australia and the US, has only promised that it will not allow its emissions to rise above the developed-country average.