Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- India will support the Group of 20 leaders on withdrawing subsidies for fossil fuels “over time,” said Shyam Saran, the country’s special envoy on climate change.

The G-20 may issue a “general commitment” on ending fuel subsidies after talks in Pittsburgh, Saran told reporters yesterday. At the same time, any steps must “be sensitive” to the needs of nations such as India, where large numbers of people lack access to energy, he said.

“We, of course, look upon subsidies as something that, over a period of time, should be retired,” Saran said in Pittsburgh, declining to specify by when the G-20 may implement the rationalization of subsidies on fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. If there are distortions in energy pricing, removing the distortions “is in our own interest,” he said.

While issues such as limits on carbon pollution are not on the G-20 agenda, a strong message from the leaders would have a favorable impact on talks at the United Nations meeting in Copenhagen in December, Saran said. Negotiators from more than 180 nations will gather at the event to broker a new treaty to fight global warming by limiting the release of gases from burning fossil fuels and clearing forests.

Saran also reiterated India’s stance that it will not commit to absolute levels of emission reductions, adding the country is already taking “significant mitigating actions.”

To spur further efforts by developing countries, the developed world must provide more funding and technology, Saran said.

Financial Support

“It continues to be our position that we will not be able to take absolute levels of emission reduction targets of the kind the developed countries are obliged to do,” Saran said. “If we are to do more, then it’s obvious that unless there is enabling support both in terms of financial resources and technology transfer, taking such action will impact on our growth.”

Developed nations “need to do much more to make up for lost time” as they’re lagging on previously set emissions reduction goals, and the world must commit to finding the resources to finance developing countries’ efforts if progress is to be made, Saran said.

“Sitting in the negotiating chamber, I don’t see why we should be defensive at all,” he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 25, 2009 02:51 EDT