Restart climate change negotiations, India urges Denmark Two-track process must be activated in the run-up to COP-16. Centrality of UNFCCC must be preserved India promises continued support for ambitious, equitable outcome in Mexico
India has urged Denmark to restart negotiations on climate change in the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) process, in the run-up to the Conference of Parties (COP)-16 scheduled to be held in Mexico in December.
In a letter to Danish Minister for Climate and Energy Lykke Friis, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said that in line with discussions at Copenhagen, the two-track negotiation process along the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) under the UNFCCC and the Ad hoc Working Group under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) must be urgently activated in the run-up to COP-16.
Referring to the second ministerial-level meeting of the four emerging economies — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — held here on Sunday, Mr. Ramesh said the BASIC ministers underscored their support for the Copenhagen Accord but felt that the centrality of the UNFCCC must be preserved.
“We believe that as the current president of COP, Denmark has a major responsibility in discharging the mandate.”
Writing on behalf of the BASIC group, Mr. Ramesh requested Denmark to convene meetings of the AWG-LCA and AWG-KP no later than March 2010, and notify at the earliest the parties of a calendar of meetings of these working groups providing for at least five sessions till COP-16.
The time available till the Meeting of Parties (MOP) in Bonn in June 2010 could be utilised more profitably for formal meetings.
India also assured Denmark of continued support in its endeavour to ensure adequate preparation for an ambitious and equitable outcome at Mexico City.
The BASIC countries, in their joint statement after the ministerial meeting, asked Denmark to ensure that the ad hoc working groups met at least five times before the Mexico meeting. They said financing, logistics and other procedural issues should not be allowed to become a constraint in the convening of these meetings, which were essential to progress towards an agreed outcome at COP-16.
