Copenhagen: After tough negotiations, the first official draft at the Climate meet here has been firmed up which says that developing nations shall take appropriate mitigation actions with the support of finance and technology from the developed world, a key demand advocated by India.
The draft also provides for the establishment of mechanism to record
mitigation actions and also states that national communications including greenhouse gas inventories, shall be prepared by developing countries and submitted to the COP every 10 years, which is subject to change.
The draft, which came after four days of hectic negotiations, also says that developing countries can take mitigation actions under Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) and beyond.
"Developing countries shall undertake nationally appropriate mitigation actions enabled and supported by finance, technology and capacity building provided by developed country parties," the draft says.
India has been maintaining that it was ready to undertake national mitigation schemes to fight against climate change voluntarily and has been pressing for funding and transfer of technology from developed world in this direction.
New Delhi has contended that the funds should be separately earmarked and not come in the form of loans or Overseas Development Assistance.
The draft says the countries shall combat climate change in order to ensure that the "global average temperature above pre industrial levels ought not to exceed 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius."
The maximum temperature is a highly contested issue at the negotiations with rich nations as well as emerging economies like India and China are pushing for 2 degree Celsius.
But small island states and African countries are pushing for 1.5 degree Celsius as Science shows that anything above this temperature would have catastrophic impacts on their countries with many of them sinking in the rising sea levels.
The goal for mitigation actions is bracketed (subject to change) which is in the range of 15-30 percent by 2020. Negotiators are expected to produce a legally binding document failing which, a document that captures agreement on key political fronts to tackle climate change that will be worked into a legally binding treaty next year.
The second track of negotiations are being carried out under the Ad Hoc Working Group on Kyoto Protocol that are charged with coming up with a text for the extension of the Kyoto Protocol into its second commitment period following the end of the first commitment period on Dec 31, 2012 under which industrialised nations are obligated to legally binding carbon emission cuts.
On the issue of reporting, the BASIC text does not
mention a mechanism for reporting but provides nationally
voluntary measures are obligated to report on how these are
going through national communications to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the implementation
of these targets are up for internal domestic review only.
The text of the first draft puts forward three
proposals for reduction of global emissions by "all parties" -
by 50 or 85 or 95 percent – from 1990 levels by 2050.
It is significant that the text writes 1990 levels as
opposed to 2005 levels, which has been the basis for several
countries, including the United States.
For "developed countries as a group" it put forward
three options - "should reduce their greenhouse gas emissions
by 75-85 or at least 80 to 95 or more than 95 percent levels
by 2050."
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 12, 2009, 12:34