Indian Climate Policy: Choices and Challenges

In order to negotiate effectively on an international regime for climate change, US policymakers must have an accurate understanding of the constraints and considerations that determine the negotiating positions of key countries. India plays a pivotal role in these efforts. In the run up to the December 2009 negotiations in Copenhagen, India has proven to be a canny negotiator, constantly seeking to balance the demands of major Western countries with the positions of the developing world. But the high stakes drama of international negotiations often leads observers to treat India as a monolithic actor with a single set of opinions and needs. The essays in this volume are intended to counter this assumption and to show the rich, divrse, and often divergent viewpoints that inform India’s approach to climate change.

The nine Indian experts who have contributed to this volume address various aspects of the climate challenge, ranging from the risks to Indian energy security and water resources to the dynamics of greenhouse diplomacy and the opportunities and obstacles to Indian policy leadership. Indian Climate Policy: Choices and Challenges illustrates the complex constraints on Indian policymakers and provides material for more fruitful, better-informed discussions in Washington, Delhi, and all points between.

Stimson’s Regional Voices: Transnational Challenges project is devoted to enhancing the information and analysis available to policymakers about emerging transnational security challenges in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Africa. For more information on the project, please visit www.stimson.org/programs/regional-voices.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938112

Cover photos from iStockphoto

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