The draft proposal prepared by the host nation Denmark for the climate change summit starting on Monday removes the distinction between the developed and the developing countries and will be disastrous for India and other developing countries.
Developing countries have maintained that given the fact that emissions from industrialising developed nations over the last century have been the primary cause of global warming, they should shoulder greater responsibility for carbon cuts.
G-77 and China on Sunday formally presented the basic BASIC draft — mooted by China and supported by Brazil, South Africa and India — at Copenhagen and said it should be the basis of negotiations. The draft is aimed at countering the Danish proposal and recommends extension of the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties and establishment of a mechanism for technology development and transfer to developing countries.
India joined the U.S. and China in announcing voluntary emission intensity cuts last week with Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh pronouncing a 20-25 per cent target reduction of the country’s carbon emission intensity by 2025.
India has said it will be “flexible” at the climate meet, while ensuring that its national interests are not affected, but reiterated that it will not accept any legally binding emission cuts.
While the U.S. has made a proposal to cut its carbon emissions by 17 per cent, China has announced a target of carbon emission intensity reduction of 40-45 per cent. Carbon intensity is the volume of emission proportionate to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in Kyoto in 1997, sets legally binding targets for developed countries to reduce emissions — a major feature of the pact. These amount to cuts of an average 5 per cent below the 1990 levels by 2012.
Prior to the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, but no mandatory limits on emissions were set.
