By Krittivas Mukherjee
Yvo de Boer, U.N. executive secretary on climate change, said India will have to reinvent growth without polluting heavily and for that it must immediately make more efficient use of energy.
New Delhi, which is not required under the Kyoto Protocol to cut emissions, says its existing energy policy would cut its climate-warming gas emissions by over 25 percent by 2020.
"One, identify areas in the economy where clean development mechanisms can be used," de Boer told Reuters. "Two, improve energy efficiency mechanisms."
Experts say India could use clean technology to build and run power stations, new cities could be designed better and energy-efficient green buildings could be constructed. About 80 percent of India's electricity is produced by burning dirty coal.
"We know what the developing countries like India and China don't want or cannot do. Now we want to know what they can do or they want."
(Editing by Alistair Scrutton)