By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : The stage is set for the annual UN summit on climate change starting Monday at Durban in South Africa but Indian officials and experts are pessimistic about the prospects of a breakthrough that can bring the rich and poor countries on board on the critical subject of global warming.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties 17 (CoP) summit from Nov 28 to Dec 9 is likely to seal the fate of the Kyoto Protocol – the only legal regime that calls for emission cut by developed countries but expires in 2012.
According to Indian officials, nothing comprehensive is expected at the Durban talks, which will see negotiators from 194 countries party to the UNFCCC trying to carve out the best deal for their governments and people.
The bone of contention between developed and developing countries remains on climate financing, transfer of energy efficiency technology, the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and legally binding emission cuts.
Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment, said not much is expected in Durban, except the usual shadow-boxing.
Deepening Euro zone crisis is also expected to cloud the talks as developed countries have failed to provide promised climate funding to poor countries to take measures to combat climate change.
Developed countries have committed $30 billion as fast-start financing by 2012 and $100 billion per year by 2020 for developing countries.
India’s former key negotiator Prodipto Ghosh told IANS: “There is no new money coming from rich countries and they have been re-packaging existing funds to help developing countries adapt to climate change and curb emissions.”
Seen groupwise, the European Union is ready for a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol but with a rider that the US should also agree to it and developing countries like India and China should commit to bringing down emissions.
US President Barack Obama however created a controversy early this month by saying that the US is doing enough but developing countries should also take necessary action. Other major economies like Australia, Japan and Russia are also of the same view.
India has taken a tough stand and has proposed three key points to be included in the agenda of the UN climate summit — equitable access to sustainable development, technology transfer and unilateral trade measures to be part of the negotiations.
Sending a strong signal, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan stressed that countries should shun “competitive politics” if the world has to arrive at some cordial outcome in Durban.
Being the host nation there is lot of pressure on South Africa for making the Durban conference a success while the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) – which will be the first to suffer — wants a concrete outcome from the summit.
So what can change the outcome? Narain is of the view that there is no other way but that the developing world regroups and takes leadership. “Our world is the worst hit. We do not need to be preached about the pain of climate change,” Narain told IANS.
Eyes are now at Durban to see how committed are world leaders to save the planet from the adverse actions of its habitants.
Acronyms and concepts in climate change talks that you’ll come across:
UNFCCC: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change came into existence at the UN Environment Conference at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. Better known as Earth Summit, the conference sought to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With 194 members, the UNFCCC has near universal membership.
CoP: The Conference of Parties is an annual meet of UNFCCC members. The first CoP was held in Berlin in 1995 and the Durban meet is the 17th.
Kyoto Protocol: Born at the UN climate meet in Japan’s Kyoto city in 1997, it is the only existing regime that introduced legally binding emission targets on rich countries and voluntary cuts for the developing world. It came into operation in February 2005 and it ends 2012. As many as 192 countries are party to it while the US is yet to ratify it.
Greenhouse gases (GHG): The six gases responsible for causing global warming — carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride.
IPCC: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was created in 1988 in an effort by the UN to provide the governments of the world with a clear scientific view of what is happening to the world’s climate. It came out with its first assessment in 1990 and the fifth one is due in 2013.
Bali Action Plan: The 2007 climate conference in Bali culminated in the adoption of the Bali Road Map, which consists of a number of measures essential to reach a secure climate future.
Adaptation: Measures need to be taken at the global and local levels in order to reduce the impacts of climate change.
Anthropogenic Emissions: Emissions caused by human activity.
Mitigation: Reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Fast-start Finance: The collective commitment by developed countries at CoP 15 in Copenhagen to provide new and additional resources to the tune of $30 billion for the period 2010-2012.
Green Climate Funding: At CoP 16 in Cancun, developed countries agreed to channel up $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries fight climate change.
REDD: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. It was first introduced in CoP 11 in Montreal.
CDM: Clean Development Mechanism offers developed countries’ investment in clean projects in developing countries to meet their emission targets.
Emission intensity: The carbon emissions of a country per unit of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In mathematical terms, total carbon emissions in a year divided by the country’s GDP is equal to carbon intensity.
Historical Responsibility: A term used to mean that till now almost all the accumulated GHGs in the atmosphere are a result of emissions by developed countries.
Principle of Equity: Every person in the world should have an equal carbon space in the atmosphere.
Common but differentiated Responsibility: Recognising that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, there is a heavier burden on developed nations to cut emissions.
Technology Transfer: Developing countries have been demanding that rich countries provide to them technologies that are more energy efficient and help them in reducing emissions. The intellectual property rights issues are a bone of contention as rich countries do not want to do away with the IPRs.
India and climate change: Facts and Figures :
— India is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, after China, the US, EU and Russia.
— India’s per capita emission is 1.3 tonnes per year. This is about one-fourth of the global average, about one-tenth of the global average of developed countries, and one-third of China.
— India’s share in global carbon emissions in 2007 was 4.78 percent
(Richa Sharma can be contacted at [email protected])