India sticks to its gun during climate talks

The Economic Times , Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Correspondent : Vishwa Mohan,
LIMA: With the world attention being shifted to India after the recent US-China bilateral climate agreement, New Delhi appears to be keen on positioning itself away from the Beijing's shadow. Indian government on Tuesday approved the "negotiating position" for the Lima climate talks, making it clear that the country would not compromise on the basic principles of the Kyoto Protocol.

India made it clear the equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) must be the basis of the global climate deal in Paris next year.

The CBDR is a principle which sees the rich nations including US, UK, France, Canada, Australia, France and Germany among others as historical polluters as these countries had been industrialized much before the developing countries and growing economies like India, China and Brazil. Therefore, it is their responsibility as past polluters to share the burden of current mitigation and adaptation measures.

Approving its "negotiating position" for Lima talks, the government of India's highest decision making body - the Union Cabinet - on Tuesday said that the approach of New Delhi "seeks to protect the interests of the country in climate change negotiations based on the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and it`s Kyoto Protocol (KP)".

An official statement after the Union Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "It (negotiating position) would also enhance the solidarity among the developing countries on these issues". Though the official statement did not elaborate it further, it took note of the fact that the country would not deviate from its stated position at the time when the 20th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) in Lima is "expected to focus on the elements of 2015 Agreement and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)".

India's position was broadly cleared by the country's chief negotiator Ravi Shankar Prasad here in Lima while he was speaking during a side event - "Perspectives on the 2015 Paris deal: Options on the road from Lima to Paris ", organized by the Third World Network and the South Centre - on the first day of the COP 20 on Monday.

He pointed out that the countries have had not any meaningful discussions in the UNFCCC on the issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and technology transfer - a signal that India would take up the issue forcefully during the ongoing negotiations.

India has long been taken a stand that the rich nations should transfer technology to their poor counterparts free of cost by using the money of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). New Delhi has held a strong view that the GCF should buy the IPRs of the high-cost technology and it should be provided free of cost to the developing countries for helping them to adapt to face the challenges of the climate change and move on the low carbon growth path in coming years.

Prasad noted that the developing countries need assurance from the rich nations on the issue of technology transfer and financial support before providing their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

Under the INDCs, countries are expected to announce their intended goals of adaptation and mitigation efforts\measures, based on their capabilities, by March next year. Indian position is based on the premise that the new regime under global climate deal must respect the rights of poor nations to develop so that every citizen can live and contribute meaningfully. Since the present COP is taking place in the backdrop of the recent bilateral climate deal between the US and China, it has drawn lot of attention on India.

Under the bilateral deal that was signed in Beijing last month, the US will reduce emissions by 26-28% below the 2005 levels by 2025 while China intends to achieve the peaking of carbon emissions around 2030 and make best efforts to peak early. Under the deal, Beijing also intends to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20% by 2030.

Though the goals set out by both US and China are not seen as that ambitious if one looks at the proportion of emissions by these two countries as per their historical and current emissions, the resonance of the bilateral deal is all pervasive here in the context of a kind of bench-marking done by the two nations..

 
SOURCE : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/global-warming/india-sticks-to-its-gun-during-climate-talks/articleshow/45354108.cms?prtpage=1
 


Back to pevious page



The NetworkAbout Us  |  Our Partners  |  Concepts   
Resources :  Databases  |  Publications  |  Media Guide  |  Suggested Links
Happenings :  News  |  Events  |  Opinion Polls  |  Case Studies
Contact :  Guest Book  |  FAQs |  Email Us