Govt should take leadership role in global climate talks: NGO

New Delhi: The government should take a leadership role in global climate negotiations, an environment NGO said today, a day after UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that current trends in carbon emissions will lead to disaster.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said that the developed world has failed to take the lead in solving the problem and the world can only come together if global negotiations are based on the principles of "fairness and equity".

"The IPCC report is a clear warning against inaction. However, it also says that the world can come together and take on this challenge. But the world can only come together if the global negotiations are based on the principles of fairness and equity," said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE.

The IPCC report released in Copenhagen yesterday said emissions of three key greenhouse gases were at their highest in more than 800,000 years.

Earth is now on a trajectory for at least 4 C warming by 2100 over pre-industrial times -- a recipe for worsening drought, flood, rising seas and species extinctions.

It said that since 1970, total carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and cement production have tripled while emissions from forestry and other land use have risen by about 40 per cent.

CSE said that its analysis shows that a fair deal would require developed countries to reduce their emissions substantially by 2030. However, no developed country has announced ambitious emission cut targets.

"The 40 per cent emissions cuts announced by the EU are just not sufficient. The US has done even worse. It has not announced any target, but the boom in fossil fuel use in that country, especially in the use of shale gas and oil is going to be a major obstacle for the US to put forth an ambition target," it said.