LIEBERMAN ENGAGES INDIA ON CLIMATE CHANGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 003668

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EAID KGHG ECON TSPL TRGY EFIN BEXP IN
SUBJECT: LIEBERMAN ENGAGES INDIA ON CLIMATE CHANGE


1. (SBU) Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee
Senator Joseph Lieberman met on August 10 in New Delhi with
Dr. Leena Srivastava, Deputy Director, Ambassador
Chandrashekher Dasgupta, Distinguished Fellow, Dr. Prodipto
Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, and other senior staff of The
Energy and Resources Institute (TERI),an international
energy and environment research organization headquartered in
New Delhi, to exchange views on global climate change issues
and the outlook for joint U.S.-Indian cooperation in clean
energy technology to reduce carbon emissions. The
discussions were cordial and productive, and covered a number
of pertinent topics of interest to the two countries,
including: the political backdrop to climate change
initiatives in the U.S. and India, an overview of India,s
specific climate change challenges and its energy policy
relative to those, and the desirability of U.S.-India
cooperation on carbon emission reduction. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Senator Lieberman opened by affirming that climate
change is a &real concern and priority8 on his agenda. He
voiced his conviction that the U.S. should take
responsibility for reducing carbon emissions, and expressed
his desire for joint U.S.-India cooperation in sharing clean
energy technology. Ambassador Dasgupta responded that there
is tremendous scope for Indo-U.S. climate change cooperation,
and cited the &major contribution8 that the U.S.-India
civilian nuclear agreement would make to climate change
mitigation. He asked the Senator what contributions the U.S.
would be willing to make in a post-Kyoto agreement. Senator
Lieberman stated that there is now both scientific and
popular consensus on the reality of climate change, as well
as widespread recognition in the U.S. that it is both an
environmental and national security issue. He related that
there is a growing bipartisan consensus on the need for
carbon emission caps, and that Congress is seeking to pass
new climate change legislation addressing this requirement.


3. (SBU) The discussion then turned to India,s climate
change issues and its response to them. Dr. Ghosh described
growing indications of climate change impacts on India such
as receding Himalayan glaciers and extreme weather events.
He noted India,s increasing vulnerability to weather-induced
calamities, and that India is now spending an amount
equivalent to over two percent of its GDP on disaster
response. He stated that notwithstanding a lot of &finger
pointing8 over India,s growing greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, India is responsible and proactive regarding GHG
emission reduction. He cited active programs in renewable
energy and energy conservation, as well as other initiatives.
(NOTE: Dr. Ghosh recently retired as the Government of
India,s (GOI) Secretary of Environment and Forests, in which
capacity he served as the GOI,s chief climate change
negotiator. END NOTE)


4. (SBU) Dr. Kalipada Chatterjee, Senior Climate Change
Advisor, Winrock International India, noted that developing
countries, needs with respect to climate change impacts are
different from those of the industrialized world. He stated
that India should focus more on adaptation than mitigation,
and adopt strategies that address poverty eradication and
promote sustainable development. He acknowledged that
technology transfer is important, but that India needs to
improve its &technological base8 in order to adopt new
technologies, and that India needs assistance in this regard.
Pradeep Dadhich, TERI Fellow, highlighted India,s heavy
dependence on coal, and the need to adopt clean, coal-powered
generation technologies such as supercritical boilers and
integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC). He
acknowledged strong U.S. expertise in these technologies and
stated that the U.S. could facilitate the transfer of such
technologies to India.


5. (SBU) In response to a question from Senator Lieberman
regarding the state of public opinion in India regarding
climate change, Dr. Srivastava responded that while there is
a &very rapid change in consciousness,8 it has not yet
become a significant political issue. Dr. Ghosh added that
the large number of questions in parliament on climate change
indicates strong interest, but thus far in the political
arena climate change is mainly employed &as a stick (by the
opposition) with which to beat the Government.8


6. (U) This cable was cleared by Senator Lieberman.


7. (U) USG participants:
-- Senator Joseph Lieberman, Chairman, Senate Armed Services
Committee
-- Vance Serchuk, Foreign Policy Aide
-- Fred Downey, Defense Policy Aide
-- Captain Steve Vahsen, USN

NEW DELHI 00003668 002 OF 002


-- George Deikun, USAID/India Mission Director
-- Satish Kulkarni, Science Counselor, U.S. Embassy
-- Douglas Johnston, Political, U.S. Embassy
-- Priya Ghose, Science FSN, U.S. Embassy
-- Glenn Whaley, USAID/India (note taker)

The Energy and Resources Institute:
-- Dr. Leena Srivastava, Deputy Director, TERI
-- Ambassador Chandrashekher Dasgupta, Distinguished Fellow,
TERI
-- Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, TERI
-- Sanjay Vashisht, Fellow, TERI
-- Dr. Ritu Mathur, Fellow, TERI
-- Dr. Pradeep Dadhich, Fellow, TERI

Winrock International India:
-- Dr. Kalipada Chatterjee, Senior Climate Change Advisor, WII

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