Dec. 6: As over 15,000 visitors descend on the city of 5.2 million to talk climate over the next 12 days and more than 100 heads of state or government expected to visit towards the end, the expectations have been watered down for a binding treaty on climate change among 192 nations, though a lesser contentious "political agreement" is in the work.
Even as some countries in the European Union want developing nations to do their bit on mitigating, the effects of a warming earth by cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the group of 77 nations plus China, which has been deliberating for the past two days, have hardened their position against any imposition by the West.
Delegate after delegate in pre-session meetings rejected what is called the "Danish text" which seeks a commitment from all nations to agree to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as part of the agreement in Copenhagen. Denmark is the host nation and president of the climate change conference.
The text suggests that developed nations should account for an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050, but leaves out shorter-term targets. The test has not been circulated widely.
Additional secretary in the ministry of environment and forests J.M. Mauskar told delegates at the G77+China meeting that India has "clearly drawn the red lines" in pre-session discussions and was against any form of trade sanctions for implementing the targets, voluntarily undertaken by developing nations.
Mr Mauskar, who is part of the Indian delegation which also includes secretary in ministry Vijai Sharma and joint secretary Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, said what was critical to Copenhagen meet was the targets that developed nations must accept, and that there "cannot be any legally binding targets of emissions" on developing countries.
He said in the discussions so far on the Danish text and elsewhere, he had not "seen the principle of equity, which is at the heart of the whole debate on climate change". The text has not been circulated widely, as Ms Rashmi said later that they had not seen it so far. (In Delhi, Mr Jairam Ramesh told reporters that if the Denmark draft was any indication, "we are headed for a deadend", according to PTI).
In Copenhagen, Pakistan wholeheartedly opposed the text and Venezuela said it was "illegal and we don’t want to know the text." Most representatives of other countries said they would reject this attempt at "hijacking the conference." China kept a largely non-committal attitude, though expressing solidarity with the G-77.
Denmark climate minister Connie Hedegaard and president for the major part of the conference said consultations at the meeting were based on a number of draft text proposals, while Denmark Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen was quoted by the media as saying that no the country had not put forward a formal proposal.
He also said that a strong commitment by the US to climate change would be "very valuable."
Prime minister Manmohan Singh’s arrival during the high-level segment of the meeting on December 17 and December 18 is expected to add strength to the position of India and other developing countries, which want to ensure that Copenhagen does not end in vain.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change officials expressed satisfaction that US President Barack Obama had chosen not to come to Copenhagen during mid-meeting on his way to Oslo in Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The security headache associated with a US president, above the high-level security imposed in Copenhagen, was avoidable they said.
The secretariat also said that they would make arrangements from December 16-18 to receive over 100 heads of state or government, including President Obama, and possible the larger part of the city would be locked down.
