NEW DELHI, Dec 5: As international climate change negotiations have reached half way point, India today said it was committed to be a part of the solution of the problem not of its making, but urged the developed world to accept more ambitious emission cuts and extend support to developing countries in their mitigation efforts.
Minister for Environment and Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) Prakash Javadekar, who today left for Paris, told UNI that he would cite the case of the devastation caused by excessive rains in Chennai as an example of how India was bearing the brunt of climate change. He reiterated that the agreement being negotiated at Conference of Parties (CoP) 21 in Paris should be based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR).
”I am going to the negotiations with a positive mind, but it is for the industrialized world to realize their responsibility. ”The developed world must walk the talk and come out with finance and affordable technology for developing countries,” Mr Javadekar said.
”It is an extraordinary situation that requires extraordinary response,” the Minister said pointing out how in the case of AIDS, the world acted to make the drugs within the reach of the common man.
Mr Javadekar expressed confidence that the developed nations would realise their responsibility and accept more ambitious carbon emission cuts under the agreement being negotiated in the French capital.
”I am hopeful of a consensus agreement being reached at Paris as the World was realising the grave nature of the problem,” he said.
Pointing out that the mean temperature of the earth had already risen by 0.8 degree Celsius, Mr Javadekar said though India was not responsible for the global warming, it wanted to be part of the solution.
He said the cost of climate action was much more than the 100 billion dollar promised by the developed world, and that ”insufficient” amount too, was not coming.
The Environment Minister pointed out that Francois Hollande, President of France which holds the presidency of the Conference of Parties (CoP-21), had already warned that the success of the Paris meet was not guaranteed, if the developed world does not deliver on its promises.
On asked if India would be accepting some legally binding emission cuts as part of a compromise, the minister replied in the negative, pointing out that India had already taken so much action against climate change as had been detailed in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Asked where China, another major emitter of greenhouse gases stood in the negotiations, Mr Javadekar said China stood together with all countries of the BRICS group .
The Environment Minister said India was taking mitigation action, irrespective of what other countries were doing.
In its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), India has committed to reducing emissions by 33 to 35 per cent and achieve 40 per cent of electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuels a jump of 33 per cent over the non-fossil fuel capacity of 2015.
Underlining the significance of the International Solar Alliance initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of Paris Summit, Mr Javadekar said it was an ambitious programme to involve the sun-abundant countries of the world in producing solar energy, which was carbon-free.
Mr Javadekar said what India was asking for was absolutely fair, and it was now the responsibility of the developed world to compensate for the carbon emissions they had been putting into the atmosphere for over 150 years.
”Now, the developed world cannot shift the goal post,” he said. He pointed out that Mr Modi had already made it clear that India was not begging for any favour, but was demanding climate justice. Mr Javadekar has already said that India will play the role of a “facilitator”, instead of a “blocker” at the Paris negotiations.
”There is nothing to fear from India. We will be facilitators, not the blocker of the consensus at Paris meet. ”Our record of INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution) is well appreciated by all countries,” he said. (UNI)
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