India and Global Climate Change

CHAPTER 14

Allocation of Greenhouse GasEmissions: An Example ofShort-Term and Long-Term Criteria

Sujata Gupta and Preety M. Bhandari

THERE HAS BEEN A STEADY INCREASE in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) since the Industrial Revolution, which has resulted in the problem of imminent climate change because:

•  Annex B¹ countries have emitted beyond the absorptive capacity of the atmosphere for more than a century.

•  Annex B countries will continue to contribute to the stock of GHGs.

•  Several developing countries (DCs) have embarked on the path to development and will add to the cumulative stock of GHGs in the near future.

In 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, developed countries had agreed to stabilize emissions at 1990 ...