Can't put India, other nations with high per capita emissions in same basket: European Parliament member Peter Liese

Clubbing India with emitters such as China and the U.S. is completely unacceptable as its per capita emissions are “very low”, a senior official of the European Parliament said on December 9.

Clubbing India with emitters such as China and the U.S. is completely unacceptable as its per capita emissions are "very low", a senior official of the European Parliament said on December 9.

Talking to PTI at the United Nations (UN) climate talks in Dubai, Peter Liese, a German politician and a member of the European Parliament, emphasised: "Indian people should be able to own a car when people in Germany own two cars." There have been concerted attempts to club India with major emitters such as the U.S. at climate negotiations despite its low per capita emissions.

"It is very important to acknowledge for everybody that per capita emissions of the UAE, China and the U.S.... they are very different from India.

"Many people in Europe put China and India in the same basket and sometimes even with the Gulf states which is completely unacceptable. India has very low per capita emissions compared to these countries," he said.

India's per capita carbon dioxide emissions rose by around five per cent last year to reach two tonnes of carbon dioxide but these were still less than half of the global average, according to a report released by a global team of scientists earlier this week.

The scientists said the United States topped the per capita emissions chart with every individual in the country emitting 14.9 tonnes of CO2, followed by Russia (11.4), Japan (8.5), China (8), and the EU - European Union (6.2). The global average stood at 4.7 tonnes.

On the controversial Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a border tax the EU plans to impose on energy-intensive goods from developing countries such as India, Mr. Liese said meeting the bloc's climate promises is "just not possible" without it.