New Delhi, Nov. 27: A UN agency has for the first time called on major carbon dioxide emitters among developing countries to aim for 20 per cent cuts by 2050, drawing sharp criticism from a top Indian government official.

The Human Development Report for 2007-08 released by the UNDP today has recommended that developed countries aim for 80 per cent cuts in emissions by 2050, and major emitters in the developing countries set their targets at 20 per cent.

Warning that climate change driven by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could lead to reversals in nutrition, health and poverty reduction, the report said stringent climate change mitigation will require fundamental changes in energy policy — and international cooperation.

China and India have large carbon dioxide emissions among developing countries, and are under pressure to signal their commitments by setting emission reduction targets.

But Indian officials have in the past pointed out that India’s 1.2 tonnes of per capita emissions of carbon dioxide is much lower than per capita emissions in the developed countries. The US, for instance, has per capita emission of 20 tonnes, while the figure for Australia is 16 tonnes.

The UNDP report said developed countries should adopt new steps to transfer clean energy technologies to the developing countries, and developing countries should play their part in climate change mitigation.

The report titled Fighting Climate Change comes at a time when governments are preparing for a key meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to negotiate climate change mitigation steps beyond 2012.

But the deputy chairman of India’s planning commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, today criticised the report, saying “it looks egalitarian, but it isn’t”.

Ahluwalia described the concept of total emissions — advocated by the developed countries — as “fundamentally misconceived, because it does not address the issue of equity,” according to a report from Indo-Asian News Service.

“The US today emits about 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita per year. Reduce that by 80 per cent and you get 3 tonnes per capita. India emits about one tonne per year, reduce that by 20 per cent, and you get 0.8 tonnes per capita. That’s not equal,” Ahluwalia was quoted by the agency as saying.

His remarks suggest that the principle of per capita emissions would be India’s position at the conference in Bali.

“If each poor person on the planet had the same energy-rich lifestyle as the US or Canada, nine planets would be needed to safely cope with pollution,” the UNDP report said.