United Nations: India and China have formally backed the Climate Change Accord hammered out in
Copenhagen last year calling for voluntary cut in greenhouse
gas emissions.
Both the countries Tuesday submitted official letters to
the UN Climate Change Secretariat saying that they agreed to
being listed in the preamble of the Accord subject to certain
conditions.
"It may be recalled that India actively participated in
the discussions on the Copenhagen Accord. India stands by the
contents of the Accord," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh
wrote to the UN Climate Chief Yvo de Boer.
"The Accord is only an input into the two-track
negotiations. The Accord is not a new track of negotiations or
a template for outcomes," he said.
In a one-sentence note, China`s chief climate negotiator,
Su Wei said, "I am writing to confirm that the Secretariat can
proceed to include China in the list of parties included in
the chapeau of the Copenhagen Accord."
India has made it clear that the Accord is a political
document and not a legally binding one.
"The Accord could have value if the areas of convergence
reflected in it are used to help the parties reach agreed
outcomes under the UN multilateral negotiations in the two
tracks -- the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative
Action and the Ad-hoc Working Group on Kyoto Protocol," Ramesh
wrote.
The agreement calls for limiting warming to two degree
Celsius and commits rich countries to provide USD 100 billion
long term finance to developing countries besides USD 30
billion to the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the
next three years to fight climate change.
There is still no clear mechanism for the actual
collection and disbursement of this aid but the next round of
formal negotiations is scheduled for May in Bonn in Germany.
The next UN climate change conference or 16th Conference
of Parties (COP 16) is slated to be held in Mexico later this
year.
PTI
