India backs China stand on climate change
December 8, 2014, 8:40 am

One major source of contention in the discussions has been whether major economies like China, India and rich Middle-eastern nations should be exempt from contributing to the Green fund [Image: UN]

Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has stressed that New Delhi will strike a balance between its domestic development needs and commitment to fight climate change during global talks in Lima this week.

“India’s stand at the Conference would be based on its domestic obligations of addressing the basic development needs of poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, universal access to education and health, gender equality and women empowerment, water and sanitation, clean energy, employment, sustainable cities and human settlement and its commitment to fight climate change,” said the Minister in a statement posted on the Ministry website.

Over 190 nations are negotiating new limits on greenhouse gas in a UN conference in Lima, the capital of Peru.

The Indian Environment Minister also backed China’s assertions earlier that “historical emissions of developed countries as laid down in the Conventions should be the basis for differentiation”.

“The developing countries’ need for inclusive growth, sustainable development, poverty eradication, and energy access to all must be recognized as fundamental to the approach to differentiation, he emphasized,” he said.

One major source of contention in the discussions has been whether major economies like China, India and rich Middle-eastern nations should be exempt from contributing to the fund.

Beijing is insisting that developed countries must do far more to cut emissions since they contributed the most to environment degradation since the Industrial Revolution.

Javadekar said “the real issue” in Lima “is that [the Green] Climate Fund must become a reality”.

The fund is meant to be the biggest single funding route for the $100 billion that developed countries have pledged should flow to poor nations each year by 2020.

The Indian Minister said India and other developing countries were hoping the GCF would be funded at a rate of $10 billion every year until 2020 to reach the $100 billion target.

Javadekar said that the concept of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to be included in the Paris 2015 agreement “is a major achievement” because it allows each country to determine their own way forward on climate action.

New Delhi on Sunday said it is opposed to a review mechanism to determine if all pledges by countries were enough to ward off the devastating impacts of a warming world.

India does not support an ex-ante review of its intended nationally determined contributions as it is an issue of sovereignty, said Susheel Kumar, Additional Secretary in the Indian Ministry of Environment.

India’s BRICS partner South Africa is among countries who support implementing some sort of review mechanism into the 2015 Paris agreement.

The Indian Minister said he expects “heated debates” on the contentious issue.

Javadekar claimed that “India will make comprehensive climate legislation” in its next budget session that “will ensure a better environment“.

Meanwhile, differences have emerged between China and Australia during climate change talks in Lima as Beijing says all developed countries must aid poorer nations in tackling climate change while Canberra has said there should be a common playing field for all countries.

China has criticized Australia’s refusal to donate to the UN Green Fund saying it is an obligation of developed countries.

Australia, one of the biggest polluters, has sought to downplay the significance of the recent US-China climate deal with the Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday calling the deal “business as usual”.

“What has China announced? China has announced business as usual to 2030 and then they’ll think about what their reductions will be at a time when their population will slow and their development will slow in any event,” she said in an interview on Monday to The Australian.

The UN is urging around 200 nations to arrive at a consensus for a climate accord at a summit in Paris in late 2015.

In a key announcement made by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama earlier last month, both countries agreed on an accord to cut emissions. China said 2030 would be peak year for its soaring greenhouse gas emissions, the first time it has set a limit. The US would cut emissions by more than a quarter from 2005 levels by 2025, stressed Obama.

TBP