Delegates engaged in discussion in Durban in the just concluded climate talks. Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan said India resisted EU pressure to agree to a legally binding agreement.
NEW DELHI: "It does not imply that India has to take binding commitments to reduce its emissions in absolute terms in 2020," Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan said in a statement tabled in the Lok Sabha on the Durban decision on new global climate regime.
Her statement comes after the hard-fought battle at the UN climate meet that had to be extended to address India's concerns and also ensure a second phase of Kyoto Protocol with targets for developed countries.
Natarajan said the EU had pressed for a form of agreement that would be legally binding on all parties but India had resisted the pressure and ensured a third option (besides one of having a protocol or a legal instrument post-2020) was inserted in the 'Durban Platform' decision of the world attaining 'an agreed outcome with legal force'.
She explained that the third option left the door open to negotiate for regular UN decisions, instead of a new legal instrument (like the Kyoto Protocol) as part of the new regime.
"India ensured that the new arrangements in 2020 are established under the Convention. This will ensure that the principles and provisions of the convention continue to apply in the new regime as well," she stated. The minister pointed out that the three issues - equity, intellectual property rights and unilateral trade measures - which India had raised found anchor in future negotiations.
Hence, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and equity would also apply to the new regime. A tug-of-war among the EU, the US and India had ensued in Durban on this, with developed countries attempting to keep the new regime out of the ambit of existing UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The EU had demanded a new single legally binding agreement, while the US had sought that the exact phrases 'equity' and 'CBDR' should not be incorporated in the final decision.
A last-minute compromise by the US and the EU had ensured that the final Durban Platform decision explicitly mentioned that the new arrangement would be made under the existing UN climate convention.
