India on Tuesday said it has decided to formally back the Climate Change Accord hammered out in Copenhagen last year joining over 100 countries that have already “associated” with the pact.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in a suo-motu statement in the Lok Sabha said India has agreed to be listed in the preamble of the Accord subject to certain conditions. India was the last major emitter yet to formally endorse the agreement.
“Listing in Chapeau (preamble) of the Accord implies that we participated in the negotiations on the Copenhagen Accord and that we stand by the Accord,” he said.
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India has made it clear that the Accord is a political document and not a legally binding one; the Accord is not a separate track of negotiations outside the UNFCCC and the purpose of the Accord was to bring consensus in the existing and ongoing two-track process under the UNFCCC, Mr. Ramesh said.
“The Accord could have value if the areas of convergence reflected in it are used to help the parties reach agreed outcomes under the UN multilateral negotiations in the two tracks,” he said.
Mr. Ramesh said India had agreed to listing under the Chapeau after “careful consideration” and believed that the decision reflected the role it had played in giving shape to the Copenhagen Accord.
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Brazil, South Africa and China, other members of the four-nation BASIC group, have already agreed to such a listing and communicated their association to the UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Mr. Ramesh said besides the BASIC countries, many other countries from the G-77 and China group have also associated themselves with the Accord.