Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 29
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached Paris for the world conference on climate change where he is expected to officially clear India’s stand on various climate-related issues, the government said it won’t be bullied by developed nations.
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At the summit, the PM is expected to speak on the relevance of CBDR (common but differentiated responsibilities) and the responsibility of developed nations in curbing emissions along with adaptation, development and access to climate-related technology at affordable prices.
Before leaving for the ‘COP 21’ summit, the Prime Minister, in his radio programme “Mann Ki Baat”, emphasised equal responsibility for all nations to work against global warming. His views assume significance amid attempts by developed nations to place greater responsibility on developing countries such as India in curbing emissions. “The whole world is worried about climate change. There are discussions everywhere over it and concerns are being raised... The temperature of the Earth should not increase further.
It is the responsibility and concern of all,” he said
The COP 21 hopes to bring together the world for a next-generation agreement to tackle climate change. The main idea would be to cap the rate of global warming at 2 degrees Celsius. But achieving a consensus on the issue may not be as simple as it may sound.
As India prepares to fight its case on various issues, including funding, historic responsibility and CBDR, it has already come under "unprovoked criticism” from US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Responding to US’ concerns that India will be a “challenge” at the summit, Environment Minister Prakash Javedkar has said "India cannot be bullied". “You can't bully India, the message is clear. Developed countries need to provide carbon space to developing countries,” Javadekar was quoted as saying, putting on record India's stance at the conference.
"We will not be opposing but we will be proposing real changes needed to ensure we have a balanced growth and balanced environment. There should be a durable agreement and we need to trust each other," he said.
While India has been maintaining that developed countries, as major polluters over the centuries, should assume greater role, including through funding and transferring low-cost technology to developing nations, in fighting global warming, reports suggest developed nations henceforth want this differentiation between developed and developing countries to go. In other words, arguing on the status of current emissions of countries like India and China, the US in particular is believed to be pushing for doing away with the concept of “historical responsibility” for once and all.
Contrary to the requirement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), it wants the Paris text to specify the concept of “collective” responsibility of all in curbing emissions. The developed nations probably also want the developing nations to contribute to the climate funds in the future. Even though several sticking points remain, before leaving for the tough negotiations Indian officials were confident that Paris will yield a “just and acceptable” agreement.
Apart from finance and technology transfer issues, India is also contending the point whether individual countries’ climate actions should be subject to uniform scrutiny and assessment. India believes here too a different set of principles should govern developed and developing nations.
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