India not for legally binding emission cuts

Photo:PTI

India will never accept internationally legally binding emission reduction targets or commitments as part of any agreement of or deal, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has said.

In a statement, Mr. Ramesh said that while India was prepared to discuss and make public periodically the implementation of its National Action Plan on climate change, it would never accept internationally legally binding emission reduction targets or commitment.

The statement that comes in response to his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says, “India will never accept any dilution or renegotiation of the provisions and principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In particular, we will never agree to the elimination of the distinction between developed and developing countries as far as internationally legally binding emission reduction obligations are concerned.”

Kyoto Protocol

“India will agree to consider international measurement, reporting and verification of its mitigation actions only when such actions are enabled and supported by international finance and technology. India like other developing countries, fully expects developed countries to fulfil their obligations on transfer of technology and financial transfer that they committed to under the UNFCCC and the Bali Action Plan for both mitigation and adaptation actions,” the statement said.

Further, he said his note had suggested the possibility of some flexibility in India’s stance, keeping the non-negotiables firmly intact and keeping India irrevocably anchored in the UNFCCC of 1992 and the Bali Action Plan of 2007. “I have never at any stage considered or advocated abandoning the fundamental tenets of the Kyoto Protocol.”

Link:The Hindu