Durban climate change talks: Jayanthi Natarajan begins negotiations

Times of India , Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Correspondent : Nitin Sethi, TNN
NEW DELHI: Union environment ministerJayanthi Natarajan stepped into the high pressure Durban talks with a series of closed door bilateral meetings with US, China and Europe even as she took stock of state of UN climate negotiations after one week.

Her meetings with the political chiefs of the key countries took place under the backdrop of increasing isolation of the EU over its proposal to launch negotiations for a new legally binding deal at Durban.

India along with China kept its pressure up on Monday with the former's negotiator demanding that the talks focus on the laid agenda and not slip into discussions on proposals like that of EU which were not mandated under the Bali Action Plan in 2009 - the mainframe of the talks ever since.

EU's proposal had gained support of some small island states and the least developed countries but the latter put distance between themselves and the western world by demanding that Kyoto Protocol be kept alive and the financial flows promised to the poor world materialize at Durban. The African countries too inched out of the European circle of influence. Suggesting that Europe and other developed countries wanted to keep alive the cheap means of actions under carbon trade but kill Kyoto likening it to someone loving mangoes but disliking the mango tree and saying it was unacceptable to them.

The BASIC countries continued united stand found support from the US as well as other big developing countries in the G77 countries such as Egypt who would be next on line for stiff emission reduction targets sans any principle of equity if the European proposal was to go through.

The talks are expected to shift behind closed doors from tomorrow with the key players trying to find a face-saver and language in a political declaration that would help Europe save face even as they back off, if they do at all.

Almost as a plan B the key developed countries began to find a scapegoat among the developing world to blame. While US claimed emerging economies did not have the appetite at the moment for a new deal, Europe too passed the buck on for its refusal to sign on to Kyoto Protocol - II unconditionally. US played light of the fact that it had neither funds nor emission reduction targets to offer with the Democrats looking at a tough presidential elections next year. The Europeans used the recession as an excuse and the Japanese reminded the gathering of the losses it had recently suffered even as it reaffirmed that it would not join Kyoto Protocol after 2012.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Durban-climate-change-talks-Jayanthi-Natarajan-begins-negotiations/articleshow/10995881.cms
 


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