The World Just Made A Major Shift Toward Renewable Energy

“We are witnessing a transformation of global power.”

 10/26/2016 06:00 am ET

·          

Nick Visser Reporter, The Huffington Post

   FABIAN BIMMER / REUTERS

More than half of all energy generation capacity added in 2015 came from renewable sources.

The world installed more new renewable energy last year than coal, as countries attempt to shift away from fossil fuels and take advantage of massive cost reductions in wind and solar technology.

More than half of all energy generation capacity added in 2015 came from renewable sources, as the world installed more than half a million solar panels a day and two wind turbines every hour, the International Energy Agency announced Tuesday.

“We are witnessing a transformation of global power markets led by renewables and, as is the case with other fields, the center of gravity for renewable growth is moving to emerging markets,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement.

Those statistics only reflect the total amount now able to be produced, not the energy that was actually generated.

The agency said renewables would be the fastest-growing source of electricity production over the next five years and would “rapidly close the gap with coal.” More than 65 percent of this capacity will come from development in China, the U.S., the European Union and India ― also the world’s four biggest polluters.

The cost of renewable energy has fallen dramatically in recent years as funding for new technology has skyrocketed. Investment in clean energy capacity beat that of fossil fuels 2 to 1 between 2008 and 2015, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

Leaders in the environmental community praised the statistics. Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, hailed the move as a “historic milestone,” but he called on leaders to “maintain our focus to keep up the momentum” behind the clean energy transition.

“The international community has reached a turning point as we hit the accelerator on the transition to a clean energy economy,” Brune said in a statement. “This news doesn’t just mean the world installed more renewable energy than dirty coal ― it means cleaner air, new jobs, and a more stable climate.”

While the IEA did raise its estimate for the amount of renewable energy produced by 2021, the agency also warned of barriers to entry in developing countries and renewed calls for “stronger policy efforts” in the heat and transportation sectors.

Here’s How The World Can Adapt To The Rapid Rise Of Cities

More than half of the people on the planet live in cities — so it’s more important than ever for countries to make a plan for sustainable growth.

 10/21/2016 08:43 pm ET   

       

Kate Abbey-Lambertz  National Reporter, The Huffington Post

                      

                                CREDIT: GUY EDWARDES/GETTY IMAGES

Aerial view of Quito, Ecuador. The city was a destination for thousands of urban planners and local leaders this week for a United Nations summit addressing sustainable urban development.

Leaders from more than 150 countries came together this week to formalize a sweeping guide that charts a sustainable future for new and existing cities, rapidly growing across the globe.  

More than 35,000 people attended a United Nations summit in Quito, Ecuador, this week, and on Thursday, UN member countries formally adopted the New Urban Agenda. The document focuses on sustainable, inclusive development, covering things like the role of climate change in urban planning and how cities get rid of residents’ trash.  

The UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, commonly referred to as Habitat III, occurs every 20 years. This was the third time it was held.

Over half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and the number of city dwellers could increase by 3 billion by 2050. Cities can provide a better quality of life and greater economic opportunities, but they’re also places of persistent inequality and are putting a major strain on the earth’s resources.

The New Urban Agenda says ending poverty “is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” Here are some of the other fundamentals outlined in the New Urban Agenda:

·         Ensure everyone has access to affordable and adequate housing, safe drinking water, suitable nutrition, education and health care.  

·         Create public gathering places and green space that is open to everyone.

·         Develop emergency response plans to protect residents and come up with long-term strategies to make cities more resilient to natural and manmade disasters.

·         Protect the environment and combat climate change; reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution; conserve natural resources and ecosystems.

·         Promote equitable economic growth.

·         Design transportation systems that give all residents mobility.

The New Urban Agenda particularly emphasizes that cities should respond to the specific needs of women when it comes to policy and urban design ― women should have equal access to jobs and education and be safe from violence in public and private space. They should also be involved in city decision-making and represented in local government. 

The agreement isn’t binding, and while there are general policy recommendations (like giving cities more political power and funding), it purposely leaves many details of implementation up to individual countries and cities. Some see this as a major flaw and criticized the guidelines for being too weak.

“The planet has already moved beyond critical planetary boundaries related to climate, biodiversity, land use and fertilizer use,” urban ecologist Timon McPhearson said in a press conference at the summit. “Yet, urgency is entirely absent in the New Urban Agenda.”

There is also at at least one glaring omission from the wide-ranging set of goals outlined in the document: LGBTQ rights are never mentioned, even though it is repeatedly stated that cities must be inclusive and accessible to other marginalized groups who face discrimination.

A push to address LGBTQ rights in the document was blocked by a group of 17 countries, led by Belarus, according to Reuters. The U.S. is one of the countries that fought to include LGBTQ protections, but is still an example of why they’re critical, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro explained in one of the Habitat III sessions. 

“People are still denied housing because of their sexual orientation to this day in the U.S. and elsewhere,” Castro said, according to the Guardian.

“The 21st century will belong to those nations which embrace freedom and equality for everyone,” he added.

____

Kate Abbey-Lambertz covers sustainable cities, housing and inequality. Tips? Feedback? Send an email or follow her on Twitter.   

In the Shadow of Tragedies: Our Responsibility to Protect by Harry Young, Ph.D.

“State sovereignty, in its most basic sense, is being redefined-not least by the forces of globalisation and international co-operation. States are now widely understood to be instruments at the service of their peoples, and not vice versa.”

-Kofi Annan (1999), Former Secretary General of the United Nations

In the shadow of the tragedies in Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia and Kosovo, the world is witnessing the horror of the ongoing and complicated intrastate war in Syria and the smoldering conflicts in Burundi and Ukraine (to name only a few). Calls for intervention to stop flagrant human rights violations have not yielded real results. It begs the question of the responsibilities of the state for the welfare of its citizens and what responsibilities other states have to those impacted by intrastate wars.

The modern state is generally recognized as having emerged in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Year War (1618-1648). The state is a pillar of the international community where the sovereign state as the primary and most powerful actor in international relations (Mearsheimer 2001). Keck and Sikkink (1998) argue, however, that the state has lost some of its potency as a political variable and have elevated the role of non-state actors. Further, the authority of the state “is, increasingly, being either shared with, sustained by, or constrained by these proliferating authorities” (Strange 1995, 67). The growth and thickening of international law, therefore, is an important issue as the role the state plays in global politics evolves.

The effects of these changes indicates a reappraisal of the concept of sovereignty and internationalizes the protection of human rights. This may be opening the door for more internationally sanctioned humanitarian intervention particularly when the state is experiencing intrastate conflict. Humanitarian intervention can be defined as the threat or use of force by a state, group of states, or international organization to protect people in the target state (Murphy 1996). Humanitarian intervention also includes those state interventions whose declared goal is to stop or prevent human suffering though the intervening state(s) may have unrelated and/or underlying motives for intervening (Voon 2002). The debate around the issue of protecting of human rights, therefore, juxtaposes the support of universal human rights against the premium of national sovereignty (Booth, 2001). Further, the idea of international human rights law departs from the concept of state sovereignty and the state-centric approach to international law (Brown 1999). Finnemore’s (2003) assertion that post-cold war intervention in states are legitimized when based on humanitarian grounds, not only changes the purpose for which interventions are used but possibly rearranges the concept of sovereignty (see also Ling 2013; Hopwood 2013).

This issue of a third party state(s) intervention can be examined through the prism of two questions. First, what is the status of ‘sovereignty’ if a government exercises authority or acquiesces to actions detrimental to the citizens? Second, can a new paradigm of legitimatized humanitarian interventions be reconciled with the asymmetry of power between states? An examination of the U.S. policy developing out of the Kosovo intervention in 1999 may be helpful in understanding the state’s criteria for supporting humanitarian intervention. Following President Clinton’s speech on U.S. involvement, National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, offered three criteria underpinning the policy: (a) there must be genocide or ethnic cleansing; (b) the U.S. must have the capacity to act; and (c) a U.S. national interest must be at stake (Brown 1999). It should be noted, however, that the commitment to act does not reflect any international commitment but primarily reflects U.S. interests.

This combination of state foreign policy doctrine and use of force for humanitarian interventions, concerns some states. Smaller and weaker states are concerned that this trend makes them possible targets under the ruse of a ‘humanitarian intervention’ by stronger states (Hall 2013). This dampens clamors for intervention in other troubled states as leaders wonder if they could be next. Even more powerful states have reservation as was seen with Russian opposition the intervention in Kosovo although that did not preclude their intervention on the Crimean Peninsula. In reality, condemnation of or action in support of human rights are not distributed equitably to suspected and known violators (Schachter 1995).

The literature is not short on suggested ways forward. Despite discussions about prevention and enforcement of international law (Wang 2004; Telhami 1995; Damrosch 1993), the focus continues to be on armed interventions (jus ad bellum) and the nexus between protection and international criminal tribunals (jus post bellum). Former U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan (Annan 2012), calls for the international community to “devote our energies to strengthening and using those measures short of the use of force. These must include more effective and enforced use of targeted financial, travel, and economic sanctions on the leadership” (para 28). I suggest, therefore, that the primary goals should be twofold. First, preventing the crisis in the first place thereby retaining the integrity of the individual, the state, the U.N. and international law system. Second, building the political will to respond to crisis thereby upholding the world community’s commitment to human rights and international law with force as a last resort. Meanwhile, wars rage and smolder in the hotspots around the world as a seemingly paralyzed international community struggles with sporadic attempts at cease fires and humanitarian aid to victims.

About the author: Harold Young is an Assistant Professor at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. His research area is Public Law and examines an American and comparative perspective on judicial institutional changes and decision making. In his previous life he was a health communications project manager, a social worker and an attorney-at-law. He can be reached via email at youngh@apsu.edu.

Making Sure the Light at the end of the Tunnel is not a Train: Securing a Faculty Position by Harry Young, Ph.D.

After more than six years as a graduate student, and having survived the rigors of academic life including assignment deadlines, student teaching, qualifying exams, proposal defense and drafting my dissertation, the end was in sight. What followed in quick succession was the realization that I needed a job! Of course, not just any job but a faculty position where I could engage young minds and pursue my other academic interests.  This is a time consuming process and one requiring your attention while in the final throes of completing your dissertation. Neither can be neglected. During a five-month period, I submitted 67 applications. I received four invitations to interview which ultimately led to two job offers. Here are some salient points that will make your job search less stressful and help you land a faculty position.

1.   
        Start early as possible. Consult your Chair before entering the job market.

Consider the following to determine the scope of your initial search:

·         Research or teaching?

·         Instructor, lecturer, adjunct, non-tenure or tenure track?

·         Size of school, department, classes?

·         Region of country?

Time is precious: Based on #2, do not apply for positions you do not plan to seriously consider if contacted or to an institution in a location where you are not prepared to live. Respect your time, your committee and that of the institution.

Register for job sites: highered.com is good start and your may want to join APSA for access to ejobs. (Editor’s Note: A list of open positions is also available on the MPSA homepage.) While job alerts can be useful, I found it rewarding to personally review postings as they appeared. I, therefore, checked the job sites daily which brought to my attention other positions within my preferred framework.

Prepare your resume: research an appropriate format. You need a format tailored for a new graduate on the job market. Remember that this is the first “view” the search committee has of you. A well presented resume increases the odds that your application packet is immediately put in the “consider box”.

Cover letter: One crisp and clear page is preferable. Certain applications may ask you to address something specific in the cover letter so an extra half page may be appropriate. Review carefully to avoid unnecessary verbiage

Letters of References:

·         Identify at least 5 references (sometimes called referees) as early as possible. Discuss with them what your goal is and share your resume.

·         Get accurate names, address, e-mail, phone number, and work titles of each person and create a List of References.

·         Pay close attention to applications that require Letters of References along with application. Some institutions only ask for letters if you are selected for an interview. Do not send documents not requested unless the application has accommodation for “other documents”. Note, however, that some applications will specify what can be submitted in that category.

·         Check with your Chair about whether the Department has a staff member who coordinates those letters that must be sent directly to the institution.

o   Some institutions ask that you submit the letters yourself. If that is the case, then identify the portal and ensure the referees are prepared to give their respective letter to you for submission.

o   Be sure to provide your referees with the appropriate portal when necessary.

Transcripts: Have all transcripts on hand. Be prepared to provide any of the following in specified format:

·         PHD coursework.

·         One version with all other tertiary transcripts.

·         One version containing all transcripts in a single document.

Statement of Teaching Philosophy: Identify specific goal(s) and objectives.

1   Statement of Research Interest: Identify your current work and topics of future interest.

1   Teaching Evaluations:  teaching evaluations by students are testaments to your skill and knowledge. Nevertheless, do not ‘edit’ out unfavorable comments.  Search Committees keep such evaluations in perspective.

1   Create a spreadsheet to track applications:

·         Name and address of school

·         Specific point(s) of contact

·         Application due date; date when review process starts as you want to get application in by that date (even if job announcement says reviews continue until filled).

·         Minimum requirements

·         Description of position

·         Prescribed path for delivery of Letters of Reference, if required.

1   Before submitting every application, carefully review to ensure you have followed all instructions. Many institutions do not allow you to edit the application once submitted. In those cases, if you delete the application, you cannot resubmit for the position.

1   Keep your cell phone charged. The last thing you want is for a Research Committee Chair (or a representative) to call offering you the opportunity to interview and your cell phone battery dies during the call. Also, be prepared for teleconferenced interviews (Skype or similar platform).

1   When you get “the call”, prepare for the interview:

·         Review institution’s website and the department’s pages.

·         Prepare to respond to questions based on your application. You should have an “elevator blurb” prepared about your dissertation topic.

·         Prepare questions you want to ask the committee. Don’t ask about money at this point.

·         Do not “wing-it”!

1   Be patient and flexible.  Try to work with the schedule and constraints of the research committee.

Success in landing an interview that will lead to an offer ultimately may depend on five factors: your resume, application package, presentation, attitude, and, of course, luck. Work as closely as possible with your Chair, put your best foot forward in each application and prepare to shine in interviews!

About the author: Harold Young is an Assistant Professor at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. His research area is Public Law and examines an American and comparative perspective on judicial institutional changes and decision making. In his previous life he was a health communications project manager, a social worker and an attorney-at-law. He can be reached via email at youngh@apsu.edu.

https://blog.mpsanet.org/2016/08/17/securing-a-faculty-position/

Microlending gives hope to the HIV positive

A microcredit program created by Thailand's 'Mr. Condom' allows the HIV positive to start businesses and earn a living.

By Robert Horn, Fortune
May 21 2007: 6:03 AM EDT
(Fortune Magazine) -- When Narisara Panya's husband died of AIDS seven years ago after returning to Thailand from a construction job abroad, it was devastating. With only a small plot of land that didn't always yield enough food for their two children, 44-year-old Narisara - who became HIV positive herself - needed an income. But because she was stigmatized in her community, even after starting antiretroviral therapy, no one would hire her. And no banks, or even loan sharks, would lend her money to start a business. "They were afraid of the illness and thought I would die before being able to pay them back," she says.

An experiment in microcredit came to her rescue. With a 24,000 baht ($685) loan from a program called Positive Partnership, Narisara was able to set up a small business selling ginseng tonic and herbal supplements in roughly 100 neighboring villages. Now she and her business partner earn 8,000 baht ($228) a month each, more than twice the average income in their village in northeastern Thailand. "My customers know I'm HIV positive," Narisara says, but they don't care. "They are surprised at how healthy I look."



Banking on third-world small businesses
Microcredit is hardly new. Several programs, including ones for the HIV positive, have been modeled after Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The innovation here is partnership: To get a loan, a person with HIV must find an uninfected partner. Instead of being a burden, people with HIV now bring money into the community.
Narisara found a neighbor, Pojana Soengern, whose niece had died of AIDS. "People see from our example that someone like me who does not have HIV can work with someone like Narisara who does, and I am perfectly safe," Pojana, 55, says. "This project has improved my life too."

The program is the work of Thailand's famous AIDS campaigner, Mechai Viravaidya. He earned the nickname "Mr. Condom" when, as a cabinet minister in the 1990s, he was largely responsible for Thailand's HIV-prevention program that the World Bank credits with sparing 7.7 million Thais. In recent years, Mechai says, government efforts have slackened. So in 2004, as head of the nonprofit Population Development Association, he reached out to the private sector. U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (Charts, Fortune 500) has donated $300,000 and employee expertise; it recently pledged $100,000 more. Other funders include Bangkok Bank and Novartis (Charts). "This isn't charity," Mechai says. "The program works because it uses a business approach."

Ironically, the program is gaining recognition just as a battle has erupted between Thailand and Big Pharma over the country's decision to produce generic versions of HIV drugs made by Abbott Laboratories (Charts, Fortune 500). Abbott accuses Thailand of violating its patent and refuses to introduce new medicines there. Thailand claims its actions are legal under a World Trade Organization agreement.
Pfizer, watching from the sidelines, makes few HIV drugs and doesn't market them in Thailand. Its new HIV drug approved in the U.S. in April won't be available in Thailand until 2011 because of a lengthy approval process. By then, Pfizer expects Thailand and Big Pharma will have ironed out their differences.
Meantime, the payoff for Pfizer is goodwill. "Our philosophy is to take a more holistic approach to public health," says Pfizer spokesman Anutra Sinchaipanich. "Improving the lives of people with HIV is part of that."
Breaking down the stigma of HIV has advantages for the industry. Fear of discrimination keeps people from getting tested, so they stay out of the health-care system or seek care too late. Pariah status can cause depression and nonadherence to drug regimens. Resistance builds, creating the need to develop new drugs faster.

From microcredit to microcapitalism
Although Africa remains the continent most severely affected, according to the United Nations, HIV is spreading faster in Asia, primarily China, Indonesia and Vietnam, with one million new infections every year. An effective response would cost just 4 percent of most national health budgets, says Swarup Sarkar, a UN epidemiologist. HIV is most devastating to those on the borderline of poverty. More than five million people are impoverished each year in Thailand, Cambodia, India and Vietnam alone, according to the Asian Development Bank. "HIV pushes people into destitution," Sarkar says.


Positive Partnership pulls them out, having funded more than 600 businesses so far: Kanchana Tunpu, who is almost blind, started cattle breeding in partnership with a cousin; in a nearby village, Supinya Lekyumadan turned to a lifelong friend as a business partner to buy tools and equipment to expand her stone-carving business.
With a repayment rate of 91 percent, the program is drawing attention. The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Population Council have recommended scaling up the project. The UN Development Program recently shepherded fact-finding delegations from China, India, and Cambodia with the goal of starting similar ones.
"Before we had the project, people were just afraid," says Narisara, who appears well and is healthy. Without Positive Partnership, "I would be dead. But now I want to live. Now I can stand on my own feet."

From the May 28, 2007 issue

SPAIN: Power station harnesses Sun's rays

By David Shukman
Science correspondent, BBC News, Seville

There is a scene in one of the Austin Powers films where Dr Evil unleashes a giant "tractor beam" of energy at Earth in order to extract a massive payment.
Well, the memory of it kept me chuckling as I toured the extraordinary scene of the new solar thermal power plant outside Seville in southern Spain. From a distance, as we rounded a bend and first caught sight of it, I couldn't believe the strange structure ahead of me was actually real. A concrete tower - 40 storeys high - stood bathed in intense white light, a totally bizarre image in the depths of the Andalusian countryside. The tower looked like it was being hosed with giant sprays of water or was somehow being squirted with jets of pale gas. I had trouble working it out.
In fact, as we found out when we got closer, the rays of sunlight reflected by a field of 600 huge mirrors are so intense they illuminate the water vapour and dust hanging in the air. The effect is to give the whole place a glow - even an aura - and if you're concerned about climate change that may well be deserved. It is Europe's first commercially operating power station using the Sun's energy this way and at the moment its operator, Solucar, proudly claims that it generates 11 Megawatts (MW) of electricity without emitting a single puff of greenhouse gas. This current figure is enough to power up to 6,000 homes. But ultimately, the entire plant should generate as much power as is used by the 600,000 people of Seville.
It works by focusing the reflected rays on one location, turning water into steam and then blasting it into turbines to generate power. As I climbed out of the car, I could hardly open my eyes - the scene was far too bright. Gradually, though, shielded by sunglasses, I made out the rows of mirrors (each 120 sq m in size) and the focus of their reflected beams - a collection of water pipes at the top of the tower. It was probably the heat that did it, but I found myself making the long journey up to the very top - to the heart of the solar inferno. A lift took me most of the way but cameraman Duncan Stone and I had to climb the last four storeys by ladder. We could soon feel the heat, despite thick insulation around the boiler. It was like being in a sauna and for the last stages the metal rungs of the ladders were scalding.
But our reward was the cool breeze at the top of the tower - and the staggering sight of a blaze of light heading our way from down below. So far, only one field of mirrors is working. But to one side I could see the bulldozers at work clearing a second, larger field - thousands more mirrors will be installed.
Letting off steam
I met one of the gurus of solar thermal power, Michael Geyer, an international director of the energy giant Abengoa, which owns the plant. He is ready with answers to all the tricky questions. What happens when the Sun goes down? Enough heat can be stored in the form of steam to allow generation after dark - only for an hour now but maybe longer in future. Anyway, the solar power is most needed in the heat of summer when air conditioners are working flat out.
Is it true that this power is three times more expensive than power from conventional sources? Yes, but prices will fall, as they have with wind power, as the technologies develop. Also, a more realistic comparison is with the cost of generating power from coal or gas only at times of peak demand - then this solar system seems more attractive. The vision is of the sun-blessed lands of the Mediterranean - even the Sahara desert - being carpeted with systems like this with the power cabled to the drizzlier lands of northern Europe. A dazzling idea in a dazzling location.
HOW THE SOLAR TOWER WORKS
1. The solar tower is 115m (377ft) tall and surrounded by 600 steel reflectors (heliostats). They track the sun and direct its rays to a heat exchanger (receiver) at the top of the tower
2. The receiver converts concentrated solar energy from the heliostats into steam
3. Steam is stored in tanks and used to drive turbines that, eventually, will produce enough electricity for up to 6,000 homes

India pledges to abolish poverty

By Steve Schifferes
Economics reporter, BBC News

India's finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, has pledged to end poverty in India within two generations.
Mr Chidambaram told BBC World Service that if economic growth continued, India could end poverty by 2040. India would play its part in the post-Kyoto negotiations on climate change, he said, though he insisted that "we have a right to grow". Mr Chidambaram also vowed to protect poor farmers from the ravages of free trade in agriculture.
Poverty and growth
Mr Chidambaram, who became finance minister in 2004 after the Congress Party unexpectedly won the general election, has presided over an Indian economy which is currently growing at 9% per year, almost as fast as China.
He told the BBC that his task was "to ensure not only growth but that this growth is inclusive growth" which reaches India's 250m poor people. Mr Chidambaram said that "growth is the best antidote to poverty". "Growth gives incomes to people with jobs, throws up jobs for those who are not employed," he said. "Therefore growth is imperative, but it is not sufficient in a country ... where a significant number live in poverty."
The finance minister said it would take until 2040 to wipe out "abject poverty" but he was confident that if growth continued to be strong, it would happen. "We will not have the abject poverty that afflicts about 25% of India's population. People will have homes, work, food, clothing, and access to education and medical care."
Climate change
With negotiations entering a delicate phase on climate change, the position of India and China - who were not given any pollution targets in the Kyoto round of talks - is being closely watched.
Mr Chidambaram said that the West was being unfair to India by demanding sharp cuts in emissions just as India's economy was taking off. "When the developed world was growing, no one asked them: why are you consuming so much energy, why didn't you slow down?" he said. "The point is, we have the right to grow, just as much as the US and Europe had a right to grow in the 19th and 20th centuries." But he said that India was willing "to take our share of responsibility, provided we have access to clean technologies and clean development mechanisms."
Trade
The finance minister said that India's openness to the forces of globalisation had helped stimulate growth, but that there were winners and losers. "The positive aspects of globalisation will be greater capital flows, more trade, more jobs in the services sector, more exports," he said.
India's IT services sector has become a global leader in outsourcing, and earns $25bn a year which boosts India's foreign exchange reserves. The finance minister said it was a myth that India's advantage was its cheap labour. "The point is, India's labour is skilled, and today we are a major hub of manufacturing," he said. "We even export Mercedes Benz cars made in India back to Germany."
But Mr Chidambaram accepted that there were also potential losers, especially in the agricultural sector, which still employs the majority of the workforce. "The negative aspects which we are guarding against are the impact on agriculture," he said. "Agriculture in India today is a livelihood issue, which is why, when we go to the WTO, we do not look at agriculture simply as a trading issue, we have to protect the livelihood of millions of people," he added.
And the finance minister said India would stand firm. "If the developed countries continue to subsidise agriculture and then seek access to India's market, it will of course immiserise our farming population, and we will never let that happen." His remarks on this score will not be seen as helpful for the resumption of world trade talks, which have been stalled since the summer over the issue of agricultural subsidies.
Infrastructure woes
Some economists worry that India will not be able to sustain its high rate of economic growth unless it can dramatically improve its ageing infrastructure. But Mr Chidambaram said that foreign investment could help overcome the infrastructure gap, provided that India "continues to observe fiscal prudence... ensures that there is an enabling environment for investors, both foreign and domestic... and ensure that these investments are made widely and managed wisely."
And the markets seem to agree with him. India's international credit rating was recently upgraded by credit agencies, and foreign investment has been surging into the country - although India is still a long way behind China on that score.
Mr Chidambaram was interviewed by Mike Williams for "The Interview", broadcast on BBC World Service on 3/4 February.