Dec. 9: The United States on Wednesday made it clear that India, and other developing nations, must put their offer of action on climate change on the table as legally binding instruments.
Todd Stern, the leader of the US negotiating team and special envoy to the President also categorically ruled out any "historical debt" for years of carbon emissions, which the IPCC says are leading to global warming. "We absolutely recognise our historic role in putting emissions in the atmosphere, but I categorically reject any sense of guilt or culpability or reparations," Mr Stern told reporters.
He said what India, China, Brazil, Indonesia and now South Africa had offered on emissions must result in offers on table to the international community and must move beyond the level of "domestic press release". The offers, he said, need to become part of an international agreement so the governments can stand behind their commitments, and there is transparency on their implementation
He also categorically ruled out any money from the Western nations for any mitigation or adaptation actions for China, saying the money should go to the least developing countries or those who needed it. The name of India was not mentioned related to money. He said the US would pay into a fund set up to help the most affected nations in mitigations and adaptation needs. He did not given the amount that US would pay into such a fund. The executive secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer has said that $10 billion each were required for the next three years for immediate funds, with "hundreds of billions of dollars" needed every year for long term action. He said some of the countries, including the US, Japan and the EU had committed some money for the climate change fund, but did not given any details.
He was also certain that the developing countries ca-nnot be "given a pass" on responsibility to tackle climate, since, according to him "all the growth emissions" would be coming from developing countries in the future.
