A three-member delegation of activists from the State attended the talks at the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) headquarters in Bangkok as an observer group.

It made some effective interventions in the formulation of an agenda for the next round of negotiations in Bonn as well as the Climate Summit in Durban this year-end.

The group highlighted the potential for promoting sustainable use of natural resources.

Six-day talks

The six-day talks ended on April 8 with the parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreeing to a formal agenda to work towards a comprehensive and balanced outcome at the Durban Climate Summit. The participants also deliberated on the commitments of both developed and developing countries to the Kyoto Protocol and Bali Action Plan.

The delegation from Rajasthan was among the groups representing environmental organisations, research institutions, civil society coalitions and development alliances in the Thai capital. About 2,000 participants from 173 countries, including government delegates and business and industry representatives, attended the talks.

Jaipur-based Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants' Society secretary Sharad Joshi, who led the delegation, told The Hindu here on Tuesday that the opportunity to move forward on the decisions at previous year's Cancun Summit was wasted in Bangkok and there was very little debate on substantive issues.

Sharp differences

Even as there were sharp differences between developing and developed countries over the future of Kyoto Protocol expiring by the end of 2012, the delegation from Rajasthan – which returned here on Monday – laid emphasis on inclusion of agricultural production, soil fertility, crop yield and availability of irrigation and potable water in the agenda during its interactions with the official negotiators of various countries.

Other members of the delegation were Ajay K. Jha, representing advocacy group Pairvi, and Sanjai Bhatt, representing “Beyond Copenhagen” campaign launched here after the 2009 world climate conference in Copenhagen.

Mr. Joshi said most of the developed countries were not in favour of a binding second commitment period after the termination of Kyoto Protocol and wanted further deliberations on “long-term cooperative action and shared vision” rather than a binding pledge.

“Most of the civil society groups felt that a lot of precious time was wasted on procedural matters when the world is running short of time in achieving a just and fair deal on the climate front,” said Mr. Joshi quoting Ambassador Pablo Solon of Bolivia as equating the climate talks to “throwing a bucket of water to prevent the forest fire”.

Mr. Jha in a statement said the developed countries were trying further to regress from their stance and commitments at Cancun and seemed to be in favour of only national voluntary pledges to reduce carbon emission rather than legally binding commitments. This would be disastrous for climate stabilisation, he added.

In his statement, Mr. Bhatt said the efforts of developing countries such as India, Brazil, China and South Africa and other smaller countries to bring consistency and uniformity to climate negotiations at Bangkok were not matched by developed nations, especially the U.S., which tried to “circumvent the Kyoto Protocol provisions”.

The Rajasthan delegation threw light on the initiatives of both the government authorities and the people at large in the desert State for dealing with global warming, constant decline in ground water level, reduction in monsoon duration and a steady decrease in the crop yield.

Pointing out that developing countries were bearing 65 per cent of the total emission cutting burden, Mr. Joshi said the means of subsistence in desert regions like Rajasthan were declining under the impact of greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries.