New Delhi | April 20, 2016: Developed countries should raise taxes on coal production to help raise money for a $100 billion-a-year fund that is supposed to help poorer countries tackle climate change but are short of cash, India's environment minister said on Wednesday.
An agreement to finance the fund was a major part of the landmark Paris climate change accord forged in December after four years of fraught negotiations, but Prakash Javadekar told Reuters rich countries were failing to stick to their part of the bargain while asking countries such as India to do more.
India, which wants to double its coal output by 2020, in February raised the tax on mining coal to $6 per tonne from $1 in a bid to make it more expensive to consume the dirty fuel.
Javadekar said India's tax was the highest in the world and that developed countries should follow suit.
"If they follow India and levy a tax of $5-$6 a tonne on coal production, $100 billion can easily be mobilised," Javadekar said in an interview at his New Delhi home. "Today only $10 billion is available on the table. Even a country like America is promising only $3 billion ..."
This week Javadekar will travel to New York, where the United States, China and other leading economies will formally accede to the Paris agreement.
The accord proposed a $100 billion annual fund until 2025 to help poor countries like India counter the threat of climate change.
India, the world's second-most populous country after China, is home to 17 percent the world's population but consumes less per capita coal than the United States.
But while countries such as the United States are cutting coal consumption, India's appetite is surging, raising questions about its willingness to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
(Source: http://in.reuters.com/)