India, 16 others to attend climate change meeting in US

WASHINGTON: India along with 16 other countries would attend a meeting on energy and climate change convened by the United States next week.

These countries are members of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate launched by the US President Barack Obama on March 28 with an aim of facilitating a candid dialogue among key developed and developing countries, and help generate the political leadership necessary to achieve a successful outcome at the December UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Climate Change, Shyam Saran, would represent India at this two-day ministerial level meeting beginning April 27. The US delegation would be led by its Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern.

The Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman will serve as the chairman of the two day session.

A State Department statement said this meeting is first in the series of three preparatory sessions of the Major Economies Forum Leaders' meeting hosted by Prime Minister Berlusconi in LaMaddalena, Italy in July 2009.

Besides India and the US, other members of this Forum are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Britain.

Another goal of this Forum is to advance the exploration of concrete initiatives and joint ventures that increase the supply of clean energy while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Denmark, in its capacity as the President of the December 2009 Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations have also been invited to participate in this dialogue.