How about a non-carbon global economy?

Nandan M. Nilekani
Co-Chairman, Infosys Technologies Limited
Davos, January 25, 2008

Yesterday in Davos, we saw a great deal of discussion around climate change and energy. Yes, there is a tremendous amount of innovation happening in various kinds of solutions related to efficiency, new sources of energy, etc. But my belief is that if we want to bring about real change, we need a global agreement on capping carbon, one that is equitable to both developing and developed countries. If we don’t succeed here, we won’t really be able to implement an effective system globally and it won’t drive incentives towards creating a non-carbon global economy.

Developing countries must have their right to develop
People in India and China are looking for a better life and mobility and higher incomes, and no one can deny them those aspirations. They are entitled to them like everybody else. What we have to consider is that on a per capita basis, India consumes 1.3 Gt of carbon per person compared to the US figure of 6 Gt.

The global consensus needs to take this into account. The agreement should be fair to developing nations without compromising their growth. We need to arrive at a formula that is amenable to everyone. At the same time, developing countries must take proactive steps to bring in energy efficiency and explore renewable sources of energy.

From coal to coalition
Clean energy presents a big opportunity – you may even call it a profitable opportunity. The technology of generating and distributing power has not changed dramatically for generations. IT can make energy transmission and distribution more efficient. It can provide solutions for developing and managing smart grids on the lines of the infrastructure of the Internet.

To make this happen, we need a concerted private-public partnership. While utility and IT companies can work together to develop new technology solutions to optimize energy and innovate in energy distribution, governments must fulfill their part of the bargain by creating suitable policy frameworks.