New Delhi: Seeking to make constructive
contribution to the climate debate, India Sunday said it had
commissioned a study on equity of existing carbon space in the
atmosphere, which could be crucial in determining the quantum
or reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases.
"We have commissioned a study on equity of carbon space.
I have asked Arvind Subramanian, a noted economist with the
Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington to
prepare a paper on this," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh
told reporters.
He said the Subramanian was expected to submit the paper
in April. The issue of equity of carbon space would be
discussed at an international workshop being organised in
May ahead of the formal climate talks in Bonn.
Carbon space refers to the gap between existing carbon
volumes in the atmosphere and the volume that will be
dangerous for environment. Past emissions of greenhouse gases
from rich countries have taken up much of that space and the
developing countries are now standing up for their share.
The conference of experts would debate on the equity of
future flows and not on the historical perspective.
"We do not have clarity on how equity is to be enshrined
in international agreements," Ramesh said at the 10th Delhi
Sustainable Development Summit.
He noted that detailed separate studies by Jeffery Frankel of Harvard University, Nobel laureate Michael Spence
and Potsdam Institute, Germany were available.
Ramesh said per capita emissions would certainly be one
way of ensuring equity of carbon space.
Earlier, speaking at the DSDS session, Brice Lalonde,
French Ambassador incharge of International Negotiations on
climate change, favoured climate talks to be held at the level
of the heads of state.
The climate negotiations cover a wide range of issues
including financing, energy security, research and environment
and heads of state have greater manoeuvrability in taking
decisions on such matters, he said.
Mexican Environment Minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada
said there was a need to change the traditional way of climate
negotiations.
Spanish Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said that the
Environment Ministers of various countries had come to
Copenhagen with a large list of concerns.
The participants in the session favoured inclusion of
finance ministers in the climate talks as there were issues of
providing finances by rich nations to the poor countries to
take mitigation actions to tackle global warming.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, February 07, 2010, 17:38