India will resist attempts by countries to renegotiate the Paris Agreement, said one of India’s key negotiators at climate talks set to begin next week in Katowice, Poland.
“India won’t create obstacles…however we want that the Conference of Parties-24 (discussions) be balanced, inclusive and consistent with the Paris Agreement,” said C.K. Mishra, Secretary, Union Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
“Some countries are trying to reopen the Paris Agreement.”
While he didn’t name them, meetings in the run-up to the COP have seen several, particularly Australia, and the U.S. prominently, raise concerns about clauses in the deal. The landmark deal agreed to in 2015, exhorts countries to take steps to avoid temperatures from rising beyond 2C of pre-industrial levels, and even 1.5 C as far as possible, by the end of the century.
Currently global emissions are poised to warm the world by 3C by the end of the century.
The United States opted out of the deal last year but continues to be part of discussions as a complete withdrawal — as per terms of the UN convention — takes up to 4 years.
A 17-member delegation, consisting of officials from several ministries as well as Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, will be representing India over two weeks in what is likely to be arduous negotiations on how to agree to implement the Paris Agreement.
A key point, said Mr. Mishra, would be transparency and accountability. Developing and developed countries have disputes on whether there should be a common set of standards that all countries must adhere to when reporting what steps each has taken to contain carbon emissions.
India and China, which have committed to ensuring that their emission intensities will not cross a threshold, also argue that all countries cannot be held to the same data-monitoring-and-reporting standards.
Then there’s the thorny problem of finance. Developed countries are expected to make available $100 billion annually to developing countries, according to a 2010 agreement in Cancun. This hasn’t happened and developing countries say that all funds and technology, required to meet goals agreed to in Paris, should be over and above this.
Over the last month, India has held discussions with 40 countries, including China and Brazil, to forge alliances and compel the developed countries to make good on promises, made over the years, to provide enough finance and technology to stem runaway global warming.
