Danish Prime Minister calls for world pact on climate change

All ears: Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen (centre) talking to students of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, on Tuesday.

Bangalore: India can be one of the countries that shape the way globalisation proceeds, Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said.

In his address at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, on “Making the most of globalisation — spreading the benefits and mitigating the risks”, here on Tuesday, Mr. Rasmussen said globalisation had bound India and Denmark together.

Major player

India’s “impressive” advances in technological capability and the progress of market reform in the past 10 to 15 years have made it a major player on the global stage. The Indian economy is the fourth largest economy when measured in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). “Bangalore is the right place to speak about globalisation because it has all the characteristics associated with it,” he said.

Visits IT firms

Mr. Rasmussen, who is accompanied by a Danish business delegation, earlier visited some of the large information companies in Bangalore. Danish companies in the IT and life sciences sector figure prominently in the delegation. Although Denmark and India are very different, and Denmark’s population is about the same as Bangalore’s, the economies in both countries are “led by the knowledge sectors”, said Mr. Rasmussen. He pointed out that about 75 Danish companies were operating in India and Denmark was a good base for Indian companies wanting to be in Europe.

Mr. Rasmussen said that despite the many positive features of globalisation, about one billion people in the world had yet to benefit from it. “We should strive for globalisation with a human face, resulting from economic growth which is inclusive in nature, so that benefits reach those who have been left behind.” He argued that globalisation would not automatically result in poverty reduction. Policies and reforms, particularly those resulting in free trade, were necessary for growth to be more widely distributed across the world.

Doha Round

He said that developed countries should open their economies and called for a quick implementation of the Doha Round of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). “Denmark supports the Indo-EU (European Union) free trade agreement that complements the WTO agreement.”

Mr. Rasmussen said that India was one of the most “climate-vulnerable” countries because of its long coastline and dependence on agriculture. He called for a comprehensive agreement on climate change to which all countries would contribute.

Rio pact

Mr. Rasmussen came out in support of the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility”, enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) agreement at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Countries at different levels of development needed to be treated differently. Industrialised countries, he said, should help developing countries through technology transfers and by providing financial support. Economic growth need not necessarily lead to a proportional increase in energy consumption. Although the Danish economy had grown by 70 per cent in the past 25 years, there had been zero growth of energy consumption in this time, he observed.