Can't have binding commitments on climate: Ramesh tells US

The minister of environment and forests Jairam Ramesh met the US special envoy on

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climate change Todd Stern on Friday evening and told him that it would not be acceptable for India to take binding commitments on its voluntary carbon intensity cuts, announced in parliament last week. Nor would India accept any global verification on targets under this plan.

Ramesh, who arrived in Copenhagen in the afternoon got into a negotiating stance immediately meeting UK secretary for climate change and energy Ed Miliband, the vice-chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission Xie Zhenhua and Kamil Djemouai, chairman of Africa group.

Ramesh told reporters later that on those plans which were financed by the international community, India had agreed to allow international measurement, reporting and verification, or what is called MRV in climate change parlance. But on plans which were “unilateral and voluntary” by India, like the plan to cut carbon intensity by 20 to 25 per cent from the 2005 level by 2020, no ‘internationalising’ of the issue was possible since it would be “intrusive.”

Ramesh said the MRVs within India were strong enough through Parliament, the civil society and the media, and transparency in the country was of high order. He said he would find a solution to the issue through talks.

Mentioning that India was a “deal maker” and had come to Copenhagen to constructively engage with all country, Ramesh said the country would seek a FAB agreement— fair, ambitious and binding among all nations. He said Copenhagen was not the negotiating point for a new treaty, but a meeting point for an agreement that was in keeping with UN framework convention on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali action plan.

In response to a question whether the money for adaptation fund should go to the most needing among developing nations, the minister said, India too had several areas which were highly vulnerable to climate change, like the Lakshdeep islands, Andamans, the Sunderbans and the coastal areas where almost 300 million people lived. “We would certainly be candidate for international financing.”

He also said that India would not agree to a concept of a peaking year for the country since there was huge backlog in supply of rural electricity. He said, India would agree to a two degree centigrade cap on average global rise in temperature by 2050 provided there was a commitment on the part of the international community to come to an equitable sharing deal. He ruled out acceptance of 1.5 degree cap, as demanded by island nations and some developing countries.

Reacting to a “serious concern” shown by some students in the audience on the report on glacier melting in the Himalayas, the minister said that what he had state that Indian scientists have studied the region for over 50 years and come to the conclusion that many glaciers were retreating, some were advancing while others were retreating at a decelerating rate. “I did nto deny retreat of glaciers. I am not a climate evangelist. Nor I am a sceptic. I go by science,” Ramesh said.

He state that more study needed to be done and he was reacting to the claim that glaciers in the Himalayas would vanish by 2035. He said a recent BBC programme had quoted foreign glcialogists as saying may be that was a typographical error and the date was actually 2350. He said but they do not have to wait for perfect science before taking steps to help those who would be affected by retreating glaciers.