The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday asked India to firmly resist pressure from the United States and other advanced countries on emission targets and continue to seek funds and technology transfer in tackling climate change.
Suggesting a set of five measures that the government must undertake, the party’s Central Committee said, besides resisting pressure to abandon the Kyoto and UNFCCC framework it should stick to the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities for developed and developing countries.
India should also continue to press for fund and technology transfers from developed to developing countries as compensation for damage caused by historical emissions, and freeing of technology transfers from Intellectual Property Rights restrictions.
The country should take up and announce steps for control and reduction of growth rates of emissions. These should be conditional upon the U.S. and other advanced countries undertaking the deep emission cuts as called for by the Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change.
India should work closely with the G5 group of countries and with the G77, especially the least developed countries and the Small Island Developing States, and maintain the unity of developing countries.
At the same time it should move proactively on adaptation measures and to reduce energy inequality so that the country’s climate polices serve to advance the interests of the poor and protect them from the worst effects of climate change.
The resolution said the official Indian position in international negotiations as well as its actions have been seriously wanting.
“Far from seriously countering these U.S.-led efforts, the Indian government while formally maintaining that it is sticking to the Kyoto principles has been giving overt and covert support to the U.S. position in a number of ways,” it said.
The resolution charged that were clear signs that India was tacitly going along with the U.S. efforts to dilute the Copenhagen outcome by emphasising general goals, some unequal technology collaborations and postponing if not abandoning the requisite stiff emission reduction targets for developed countries.
