Govt shares outcome of Lima climate talks with Parliament

NEW DELHI: A week after conclusion of the Lima climate talks, India on Monday lamented that the rich nations have failed to deliver adequately on the issue of finance and said the "goal of mobilizing 100 billion US dollars per year by 2020 is still a far cry".
The concern was expressed by the Union environment and climate change minister Prakash Javadekar in his suo motu statement in Parliament on the Lima climate talks and India’s position during the crucial negotiating rounds in the Peruvian capital.
Though Javadekar, who had led the Indian delegation at talks, expressed his satisfaction over the broad outcome of the Lima climate conference, he noted the intricacies involved on the issue of finance where rich nations did not come up to expectation of the developing countries.
Referring to the pledge of only over 10 billion US dollars, made by rich nations, against the actual target of 100 billion US dollars per year by 2020, Javadekar said it was decided at Lima to "urge" contributors to confirm pledge in the form of "fully executed contribution agreements" taking note of the fact that at least 50% of pledges made till November this year should be fully executed by April 30, 2015.
The finance issue had come up during the talks in the context of capitalization of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) that was created as a financial instrument to help developing countries for their ambitious mitigation (emission cut) and adaptation actions. The rich nations are supposed to contribute to the GCF for the purpose.
It was agreed in Lima that the new agreement will address all elements that are mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and transparency of action and support in a balanced manner.
Referring to the outcome, Javadekar in Lok Sabha said, “The recognition that all elements need to be addressed in a balanced manner is a key outcome of the Conference as there were efforts by some developed countries to undermine the basic tenets of the Convention”.
Besides recognizing all elements as key ingredients of the future climate deal, it was decided that the countries should not backslide from current pledges.
“This is especially relevant in view of the action of some countries, which had gone back on their Kyoto Protocol commitments. The Lima Conference agreed that the contribution of countries has to be more than their current commitments”, said Javadekar.
Speaking about India’s position, the minister said, “Our main task was to protect India’s long term interests and emphasize the need for growth and development space to tackle the problem of eradicating poverty, providing energy access to all and address other developmental priorities.
“In this endeavour, we were guided by the vision of the government and Cabinet mandate. Our stand in the negotiations was also guided by the principle of ‘Equity’ and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDRs), which is the bedrock principle of the UNFCCC”.
On the issue of ex-ante review, Javadekar said, “We have been able to successfully ensure that there is no ex-ante assessment to be undergone. India and many other countries of the developing world were not in favour of such externally imposed review as it would compromise the sovereignty of Parties in determining their targets as per their national circumstances”.
The minister shared the following points with the Parliament while enlisting them as outcome of the climate talks known as ‘Lima Call for Climate Action’:
1. The Conference decided that the new agreement will be under the Convention (UNFCCC) and will reflect the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDRs – RC) in the light of different national circumstances.
2. It was also agreed that the new agreement will address all elements -- mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and transparency of action and support in a balanced manner.
3. The current submissions and views of Parties (countries) were captured in the form of an Annex and it was decided to continue discussions on the issue in future meeting of the Ad-hoc Durban Platform (ADP). However, this will not prejudice the legal form of the agreement or the subsequent submission or views by Parties.
4. The draft placed in the Annex text has to be finalized by May, 2015 for being placed for consideration and adoption of Parties in the Paris (COP 21) to be held in December, 2015.
5. Another key decision was regarding the ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions’ (INDCs) to achieve the objective of the Convention as set out in its Article 2.
6. The Parties have been requested to communicate their INDCs as early as possible (by first quarter of 2015, by those who are ready to do so).
7. Countries have to submit quantifiable information on the reference point (base year), time frames, scope and planning process, assessments etc. related to the INDCs. This would be published on the UNFCCC website and a Synthesis Report of the aggregate effect of the INDCs of those Parties that have communicated their INDCs by October 1, 2015 will be prepared by November, 2015.
8. It was decided to accelerate action on enhancing the pre-2020 actions like early ratification of the Kyoto Protocol second commitment period, revisiting of targets and conditionality associated with it and provision of finance, technology and capacity building support by developed countries to developing countries in consonance with Warsaw (COP 19) decisions.
9. The Parties also agreed to organize further Technical Expert Meetings to examine options for further action in the period 2015-2020.