The role of developing countries in meeting the challenge of climate change has been in the news in recent weeks, particularly in the wake of Hillary Clinton's visit to India. India's position on the issue has been consistent with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibility", which is part of the un Framework Convention on Climate Change (unfccc). The basis for this is that human-induced climate change is the result of increased concentration of greenhouse gases (ghgs) in the earth's atmosphere, a result of growing emissions of these gases cumulatively since industrialisation began. The developed countries have reached their current levels of prosperity essentially because of growing use of fossil fuels, which has led largely to the increased concentration of these gases. To my mind, it is in India's own interests to ensure that climate change is contained through global efforts. India is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which would be in the nature of rising sea levels affecting our extensive coastline, increased intensity, frequency and duration of floods, droughts and heat waves, as well as the adverse impacts on agriculture and human health. One key natural resource that would be affected adversely would be water