BANGALORE: Greenpeace has termed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) consultation paper on “Green Telecommunication” as insubstantial and without a clear roadmap, especially in addressing the telecom sector’s role in climate change.
Commenting on the TRAI Consultation Paper, Mrinmoy Chattaraj, Climate & Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India said “In the absence of emission assessments and standards, the promotion of false solutions like carbon credit and offsetting is designed to retard the sector’s inclination to undertake measures to mitigate emissions. The paper is also silent on disclosure of GHG emissions by the sector, a pre-requisite for any emission reduction protocol like carbon credit policies”.
TRAI had initiated this process, seeking submissions from industry, civil society and other interested parties, on measures to be undertaken towards “Greening of the Telecom Sector” in July,2010. Greenpeace had submitted its suggestion in this pre-consultative process (2) and will continue to monitor this process.
In response to Pre-consultation on “Green Telecom”, Greenpeace suggested prior to initiating or enabling any carbon credit policy, a comprehensive assessment within the Indian telecom sector is critical to qualify the potential for mitigation within the sector, segregated further as high and low cost mitigations. This is vital to understand and inform any decision, on whether the evolution of a carbon credit policy for the Indian telecom would actually hamper domestic mitigation for the sector.