India Could Raise WTO Ruling Issue At The UN While Signing COP 21 Agreement
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, who is leaving for New York to sign the Paris ‘COP 21 Global Climate Agreement’, said that India could question about the issue of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against Indian Domestic Solar Mission. Prakash Javadekar also said, “We are giving space to our local manufacturers here and the ruling would affect them. We would take it up.”
Officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will be the ones who would decide and take the final call on this issue. He also stated that over 130 countries would sign the Paris agreement at a high-level signing ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York. Javadekar will be leaving to the United States on Wednesday and will attend the Major Economies Forum on April 23 and 24.
The Minister along with Brazil, South Africa, India, and China, had welcomed the adoption of the Paris Agreement in the 21st Conference of Parties in December last year. The neighbourhood country China that was eyeing the Indian Solar market had extended its support to New Delhi against the WTO ruling.
The ruling came on a 2013 complaint filed by the US and US officials said that India violated domestic content requirements (DCR) rules. India fought back against the WTO ruling, claiming its compliance with laws required to promote sustainable development. India argued that its Solar Program was helping to meet its commitments under the UNFCCC.
According to the official reports, Indian Solar Energy program is one of the World’s largest and fastest renewable energy programs. It also planned its Target to produce solar energy by pushing ahead the 20,000 megawatts of solar electricity generation to 1 lakh megawatts by 2022.
Minister Prakash Javadekar also called upon the developed nations to take part in this action plan for the second period of the Kyoto Protocol and mobilising $100 billion towards climate change. The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius.