New Delhi: Amid mixed reactions to the
Copenhagen Accord to tackle climate change, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Monday said there was a need for an "informed
and rational" debate to understand effects of global warming
which has far greater consequences in India.
"Ecological devastation of whatever cause or origin will
have far greater consequences in India than in the West.
"We need to recognize our own reality and have an
informed and rational debate on what is in our enlightened
self-interest," he said at an awards function.
Singh said sometimes he wondered whether the country
should follow the same unsustainable path the industrialised
countries had taken to develop and modernise their societies.
Noting that he was in Copenhagen for the climate change
Summit last week, the Prime Minister said "we are working hard
to build a global consensus on solutions that address the
needs of the poor along with the needs of our planet and of
all humanity".
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he said the humanity`s approach
to climate change and other global challenges has to be need-
based not greed-based.
The Copenhagen Accord to tackle climate change has
received with sharp criticism and praise from experts and
political parties mixed in the country.
PTI
