POZNAN: India does not want to let the global community alter or reinterpret the UN convention on climate change at the cost of distracting attention from the earlier consensus. This was conveyed by the Indian delegation at the ministerial-level meeting of more than 100 countries at Poland on Friday.
The delegation was emphatic that there was no reason to stray beyond the "four pillars of Bali Action Plan".
The Bali Action Plan, decided upon in the UN meet on climate in December last year, demanded that the countries work on greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and adaptation to climate change and find the finances and technology to do so without altering the existing UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
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"All human beings must have equal rights to the global atmospheric resources with accounting for historical responsibilities," Vijai Sharma, environment secretary and leader of the Indian delegation, told the high level segment that ended on Friday.
While highlighting that the developing world was facing the brunt of climate change for which the developed world was principally responsible, Sharma said financial crisis should not become an excuse to postpone action for another day. "The recent financial crisis has shown, and this has not escaped anybody, that huge resources can be mobilised in developed countries when there is a will. And this should spur action on R&D in clean technologies. We welcome ideas for the investments proposed in renewable energy, and India will be a willing participant," he said, adding that government-led action in technology and finance was key to combating climate change.
Pointing out how emissions of developed countries had been rising contrary to the provisions, Sharma said per capita emissions of developed countries must also reduce, which would involve shifts from current unsustainable lifestyles.
In the field of technology-transfer, Sharma said there should be wide dissemination of existing clean technologies. "The IPR regime must facilitate such technologies to be accessed by developing countries, analogous to what has been agreed for pharmaceuticals," he said.
Explaining India's stand further, he said there was a need for a mechanism that procured the required technologies for developing countries by compensating the innovator. This could be done, he said, through a platform that could be called CLEANET and regional technology innovation centres supported by the financial mechanism under the convention.
Even financing, he said, should move away from the development finance paradigm, based on voluntary action by developed countries, towards assessed contributions from developed countries consistent with the principles of the convention.
Listing out the efforts made by India to deal with climate change, Sharma reiterated that his country supported a comprehensive approach in forestry that encompasses forest conservation, sustainable management of forests and increase in forest cover.
With differences and distrust running through the meeting, Thursday night saw Poland calling a meeting to clinch what they called Poznan Solidarity Partnership. Soon, it became a free for all with China calling Poland's indirect proposal of merging Advance Working Group on Kyoto Protocol and Advance Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action as "garbage". Calling it the EU agenda, even the US opposed the move.
With COP-14 coming to an end on Friday, Indian officials are happy with the outcome for various reasons. One, the unity of G77-China has been maintained despite attempts to break it. Two, no mixing of AWG-KP and AWG-LCA could happen. Three, no commitments were pressed.
