By Natasha Yurk, Breakthrough Generation Fellow

On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled a new national climate plan that balances environmental and economic interests. First and foremost, the report highlights a need for increased energy efficiency and renewables. Special attention was paid to solar technology, which has the potential to displace coal and petroleum with India's 250 to 300 sunny days per year. At the same time, however, Singh recognizes that a hard-and-fast emissions cap could cripple his country's economic development. The plan thus avoids limiting emissions in order to sustain a nine percent annual growth rate.

India's commitment to clean energy is definitely encouraging, but digging a little deeper reveals the extent of its clean energy needs. Singh has said all along that India's climate situation is unproblematic because its annual emissions per capita are so much lower than in countries like the United States. He's right on this one: according to the UN, India emits 1.2 tons of GHGs per capita annually, while the U.S. emits 20.6 tons per capita. But imagine that India started emitting U.S.-levels of GHGs in order to increase development. While India currently contributes only four percent of global emissions, its 1.1 billion-person population times our 20.6 tons of emissions per capita would equal 69 percent of current world emissions. Needless to say, if India is to meet its development goals, it cannot rely on fossil fuels alone.

Singh's plan presents a great opportunity for worldwide clean energy innovation. Here is a government that is obviously open to new technologies, but cannot implement them because they are just too expensive at current levels. Meeting the Indian energy challenge, as well at the world's energy challenge, will require a commitment to cost-effective clean energy. When he unveiled the climate plan, Singh said that

[his] people want higher standards of living, but they also want clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe and a green earth to walk on.

Singh's announcement is especially significant in light of the upcoming G-8 summit in Tokako, Japan, where climate change will be a major discussion topic. Hopefully this meeting will help direct clean energy technology in India's direction.