Global Carbon Space

India Wants Equity in Carbon Space

ASHOK B SHARMA

New Delhi. India asserts that if in the negotiation process the developing countries are brought into the ambit of making legally binding global agreement for emission cuts, it would ask for a formula for equity in carbon space.

Under international agreement the developing countries have “common but differentiated responsibilities” for containing climate change and are exempted from making any legally binding commitments for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission cuts. Many developing countries have announced their national action plans to cut their emission levels, yet they are being insisted upon by some developed countries to commit to a legally binding agreement.

“If there is a call for such a legally binding agreement, we will ask for a formula for equity in the carbon space. We will insist upon per capita emission of countries, equity in fund flows and would also ask for considering per capita income of countries,” the Indian minister of state for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh said at the sidelines of the 10th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) last week.

Shyam Saran, Indian Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, said that the broad political consensus of world leaders reflected in the Copenhagen Accord should form the basis for future negotiations. He said that the Copenhagen Summit was not a total failure as consensus was reached to form an ad hoc group to take forward the Bali Action Plan and to start second track negotiation for extension of the Kyoto Protocol.

Why Copenhagen Did Not Succeed ?

He, however, said that the Copenhagen Summit did not yield the desired result as the link between the “green room” and the plenary was lacking and the developed nations were hesitating to make commitments as they were in the midst of global financial crisis.
Earlier, the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurating the 10th DSDS said that moving forward; we need to reflect on the lessons from what happened at Copenhagen.
“A modest accord that is fully implemented may be better than an ambitious one that falls seriously short of its targets. This is the lesson that was learnt with regard to the Kyoto Protocol.... We will therefore participate in the negotiations in a spirit of flexibility, acknowledging our responsibilities as citizens of the globe”, he said.

“The lack of global consensus on burden sharing is an even greater barrier to securing an agreement,“ he said.

In preparation for scheduled crucial climate negotiation at Cancun in Mexico, the world leaders shall meet in Bonn in Germany May this year for preparatory talks. A series of preparatory talks are expected before the Cancun Summit.