2 February 2012: The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, has called for cooperation between all countries, both industrialized and developing, in order to achieve sustainable development. He noted that cooperation must be based on the right to development and the equitable distribution of burden.

Singh was speaking at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), held in New Delhi, India, from 2-4 February 2012. He called for ways to address climate change without depriving developing countries of their right to develop. He further highlighted the need for progress on the four pillars of cooperative action agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007, namely: mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and development, and provision of financial resources and investment. Singh also outlined some of India’s strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, including reducing the emissions intensity of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 20-25 percent by the year 2020, with 2005 as the reference level.

Regarding India’s strategy for sustainable development, Singh said that food and energy security and the sustainable use of scarce natural resources are important constituents.

Finally, he outlined some environmental achievements in India, including a 20 percent increase in India’s tiger population between 2006 and 2011, as well as a 5% increase in India’s forest cover between 1997 and 2007. [Statement of Prime Minister]