Obama signaled the importance he gives international efforts to address climate change by attending a global climate change summit in New York last week.
At the same summit, however, the highest-ranking Indian official in attendance counted India out of any global limits on emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, saying such measures are for the world’s wealthy, whose economic growth caused the problem. In his speech, Modi reminded wealthy countries of past commitments to pay the bulk of the economic costs associated with addressing climate change.
That appeared to offer little basis for Obama and Modi to see eye-to-eye on the issue. The most fruitful way forward, some economists say, may be a bilateral emphasis on renewable energy technologies and plans for sharing new technologies.
