TOI at Lima - India sticks to its guns in Peru climate talks

The buzz around the recent US-China bilateral climate agreement had brought India into sharp focus during ongoing negotiations in Lima, Peru. New Delhi stuck to its guns during the talks in the past three days and insisted that the new regime under the global climate deal must respect the rights of poor nations to develop.

The Indian stand was reflected in its formal “nego tiating position“ for the Lima climate talks that made it clear that the country would not compromise on the basic prin ciples of the Kyoto Protocol. It insisted that equity and “common but differentiated responsibilities and respec tive capability (CBDR-RC)“ must be the basis for the global climate deal in Paris next year.

The CBDR is based on the premise that rich na tions including US, Canada, Australia, Japan, UK, France, Germany and other developed EU countries are historical polluters as these countries had been industri alized much before the devel oping countries. Therefore, it is their responsibility to share the major burden of mitigation and adaptation efforts to face challenges of climate change.

Approving its “negotiat ing position“, the govern ment highest decision-mak ing body -the Union Cabinet -on Tuesday said that the approach of New approach of New Delhi “seeks to protect the inter ests of the coun try in climate change negotia tions based on the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Kyoto Protocol (KP)“.

An official statement after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, said, “It (negotiating position) would also enhance solidarity among developing countries on these issues“.

India's position was articulated 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“ -on the first day of the COP 20 on Monday .

He pointed out that the countries have not had 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 during ongoing negotiations.

India has long taken a stand that the rich nations should transfer technology to their poor counterparts free of cost by using money from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Prasad noted that the developing countries need assurance from the rich nations on 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 by March.