Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh has been an elected member of the Indian Parliament representing Andhra Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha since June 2004. He has been the Indian Minister of State for Environment and Forests since May, 2009. His policy includes tightening fuel efficiency standards, setting voluntary targets to improve energy efficiency, pushing ahead with solar power and expanding the use of clean-coal technology in power plants. He also focuses on expanding forest cover, expanding technological cooperation and extending a treaty program that will encourage investment in clean technologies.

He was chief negotiator for India at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen, in December, 2009. He won his battle on India’s stand at the climate change negotiations, forcing a shift from a per capita emissions position to an emissions intensity of GDP position. In doing so he outmanoeuvred Shyam Saran, the envoy to the Prime minster on climate change who subsequently left government.

He was criticised for saying that the Home Ministry's policies were threatening to derail the post-Copenhagen warming of ties between India and China at a Climate Change conference in Beijing. He suggested that the Home Ministry needed to be much more relaxed in its approach to Chinese investments in India as it was too ‘alarmist’ and ‘overly defensive’ in its approach. Objecting to his comments, top officials of the Home Ministry said it was “wrong to say that the security establishment was biased against Chinese companies.” PM Manmohan Singh also rebuked the Environment Minister and advised him against commenting on other ministries.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article426126.ece http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-curious-case-of-jairam-ramesh/619169/4