As India’s automobile industry continues to grow at incredible rates, its car manufacturers could influence the global climate and related transportation policies in similar manner as the U.S., warned the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). On the other side of the story, the almost humorous speed of Indian railways hinders the growth of public transport development.
The chairman of the IPCC – an organization that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 – made a speech during an interaction with three other Nobel Laureates at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2011.
“In the U.S., special interest groups who have been dominating and dictating the country’s climate policy have been arguing in their own interests,” said the 2001 Nobel Prize winner. “People have to realize that they are not speaking in the interest of the country as a whole, not in the interest of most ordinary citizens.”
IPCC chairman noted Indian auto transport policies are facing a similar risk. The concern is that with the expansive growth of India's auto industry, the country maybe faced with a similar problem as the U.S in terms of transport and climate issues.
For example, the interests of auto manufacturers can be opposed to those of public transport. “With one of the largest rail networks in the world, what is the speed that we have? It’s laughable,” the chairman said. He emphasized such a vision of transport results in “mortgaging our future energy security”. He added that by 2030, India could very well be importing 750 million tonnes of oil per year.
Ramping up the price of diesel gasoline, investing in train transportation, waterways and coastal transport would all help to ensure that India does not get into the same type of mess.
The winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1986 warned that if India follows a similar path as China in an auto transport boom, its per capita emissions can potentially rise to six or seven tonnes per capita. Currently, India’s per capita emissions are at less than two tonnes.
