There are many points of departure, and much work is needed to reach a point of convergence on the Paris climate agreement, India said on Wednesday, demanding that the sanctity of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change be incorporated and a roadmap for finance be made clear.
Speaking at the Committee of Paris meeting on Wednesday evening on the outcome draft, presided by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said, “The agreement that we are crafting must carefully balance climate ambition and the principle of differentiation. Both are equally important.” It needed to be reaffirmed upfront in the agreement that it is under the UNFCCC and in accordance with its principles, he said. “On finance, it was deeply disappointing that on the one hand developed countries are not fulfilling their obligations and on the other hand, they are trying to shift their responsibilities to developing countries themselves. There is no indication of scaling up of finance nor a clear roadmap.”
The objective was to enhance the implementation of the Convention across all its pillars. This was crucial. The principles of the Convention must be stated correctly without any unnecessary additions. The agreement must also meaningfully operationalise differentiation across all its elements. This was not clear in the current draft.
ADVERTISEMENT
India was not suggesting that the COP should remain stuck in the past but it must look forward and move steadily. A durable agreement, however, cannot be crafted by diluting historical responsibilities or by putting the polluters and the victims at the same level, he said.
“I must stress that the concept of INDCs is a great innovation and has proved a game-changer. It has enabled the participation of over 186 countries. Yet, INDCs are not even mentioned in the draft. On the long term temperature goal, we are deeply sensitive to the demands for higher climate ambition. I understand fully the demand for mentioning 1.5°C, as we also have over 1,300 islands in India. However, a 1.5°C goal would require developed countries to massively reduce their emissions and massively ‘scale up’ their financial support to developing countries. This is not happening,” the Minister said.
India was in favour of a robust transparency mechanism, but this should apply not just to mitigation but all other elements, in particular finance.
ADVERTISEMENT
The transparency mechanism should cover all countries, in a differentiated manner. Implementing the current system — which had not yet been made operational — is an essential component to build capacity and experience in developing countries. A transition period was therefore needed before changes could be made.
India also voiced concern that unilateral measures, sustainable lifestyles and climate justice do not find a mention in the draft.