India, US spar over choice of mechanism to phase out HFC

The Times of India , Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Correspondent : Vishwa Mohan,
NEW DELHI: With New Delhi sticking to its stand over the controversial HFC – climate damaging refrigerant gas – issue, the ongoing meeting of parties on Montreal Protocol in Bangkok on Tuesday witnessed fireworks between India and the US over the choice of legal instrument to phase out the dangerous gas.

As India continued to oppose shifting HFC issue to the Montreal Protocol, the meeting headed for a deadlock.

Since the Protocol operates on consensus, opposition from India and some West Asian countries will see the stalemate to persist – at least till the time the countries agree to set up a contact group to discuss the management of HFCs. Though India maintained what it has been saying since 2009 climate conference, its recent stand — where it sent some positive signal of selectively using Montreal Protocol instruments to phase down HFCs — had raised some expectations of developed countries in the run-up to the ongoing Bangkok meet.

India showed some flexibility during G-20 deliberations and later during meeting between US president Barak Obama and prime minister Manmohan Singh last month.

Indian representatives told them that New Delhi would not agree to the amendment which seeks to address the HFC issue under the Montreal Protocol. India wants the issue continues to be dealt with under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol which make it mandatory only for developed countries to phase out the dangerous gas having global warming potential.

An official here said, “The developed countries should carefully read what India had agreed for during G-20 and Obama-Singh meeting. New Delhi will not deviate from it. The country will go to the forthcoming UN climate conference in Warsaw next month with the same position over this contentious issue”.

During both the G-20 and Obama-Singh meeting, India had taken a middle path. Though it had agreed to use expertise and institutions of the Montreal Protocol to phase down consumption and production of HFCs, it insisted to keep this issue very much within the UNFCCC for “accounting and reporting of emissions” – a crucial clause that works in favour of developing countries.

Officials here said that the developed countries must respect Indian stand which was backed by several developing countries, including West Asian nations like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Indian representatives are learnt to have reiterated New Delhi’s stand arguing that the country would not be party to any change which defies the core of the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. They said that New Delhi would first like to see the outcome of the Indo-US bilateral (joint task force) over the issue.

Since the US is the prime mover of an amendment for addressing HFC under the Montreal Protocol, it’s important to see what the country has to offer in terms of solutions (economically viable and safe technology) for its phase out, they argued.

The stand was, however, criticized by developed countries, including Canada. Their representatives wondered why the world should wait for a US-India bilateral on HFCs before others can talk about it at multi-lateral forum.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-US-spar-over-choice-of-mechanism-to-phase-out-HFC/articleshow/24553819.cms
 


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