Break ke Baad

Posted on 29. Nov, 2010 by Leela Raina in India, Uncategorized

It seems like centuries sometimes when a year goes by, and sometimes you feel life whizzed pass by in a flash of a second. So here I find myself attending my third COP - conference of “parties” in Cancun. Just yesterday I met some of my closest friends after months, it felt great , and most importantly it felt like old times….but after a break.

Most of your relationships with people remain the same ( for these people you aren’t really bothered , its great either ways), for most others you realise you are not on the same page( ya well, we always have some people who make you feel like carrying a hammer with you) and some of the relationships grow on you, while you redefine them in your new space . With changing status of relationships you ask yourself that great million dollar question , is this the right time ? right time to fight? to let go? to step it up a notch? or to go for it?

So is it the right time?????

YES. and this is why . “Cancun is our last chance” as Jai Ram Ramesh put it as . He said that India will act as a “bridge” between the two sides.

India’s approach at Cancun is to find the middle ground on contentious issues between the developed and developing countries as the time of posturing is over but time to look for solution. India is positioning itself as a bridge player between developing and developed countries. We need to be practical and cannot remain frozen and should engage with all countries as part of our foreign policy, said Ramesh during a workshop on climate change here.

Against the background of failed promises made at Copenhagen by the US and other developed countries, India is going to Cancun handicapped with key bargain element completely missing, he said.

“The bargain between BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) countries and US at Copenhagen was availability of fast track finance to the amount of $30 billion during 2010-2012 and in return, developing countries will internationalise their domestic mitigation measures,” he said. “At the end of one year we have some $7 billion and the US contribution, which is the richest and historically the highest emitter, is only $ 1.8 billion. It is a laughable number,” Ramesh said. The minister said that there is no hope to get more funds following growing financial crisis in PIGS (Poland, Ireland, Greece and Spain).

As told in one of the media reports which you can find here when asked what can be expected at the climate change talks scheduled in Cancun from Nov 29-Dec 10, Ramesh said: “There is not much hope and no legally binding treaty is expected from Cancun.

“Realistic outcome at Cancun won’t be an agreement… not even a framework of agreement but a set of decision endorsed by 190 UN countries which will provide the road map for finalising a final agreement or set of agreements at climate change talks at Durban in 2011″.

The building blocks of Cancun will be issues related to forestry, finance, technology transfer, adaptation and MRV/ICA (measurement, reporting and verification/international consultations and analysis).

Ramesh said things on which a agreement is expected are establishment of a green fund, agreement on meeting adaptation needs, endorsement of Redd (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), on transparency issue of MRV/ICA.

“India is looking forward to two issues - establishment of technology transfer mechanism in area of adaptation to climate change and MRV/ICA for internationalising domestic mitigation measure.”

He said the US proposal of 17 percent reduction of emission by 2020 with base year of 2005 is “homeopathic” as actually the level will only be down 3 percent from 1990 level.

“We should not be defensive and negotiate with open mind. We will take debate to a point and if it hurts our national interest we won’t agree to it,” he said.

On the second commitment period for Kyoto Protocol, Ramesh said it is non-negotiable but US is saying it won’t accept until China takes some emission cuts and China says it won’t until Europe takes it “so we are revolving in a circle.

But on its road to Cancun since China these are a few important landmarks that should be noted. Jai Ram Ramesh no longer being a favourite with the media .

In october , when I was busy attending saysocc 2 in Sri Lanka, the Indian government hosted several delegates from in and around the world for the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference known as DIREC. What is interesting is that DIREC came out with a decleration and consensus on technology , but here we did not see our usual stakeholders and negotitiators take the lead procactively but rather it was one of the local ones.

The DIREC declaration can be found here and a detailed summary here . Most strikingly one of the main focus was on energy access, investment for R &D into this area. While the next conference will be held in the UAE they declared this decleration to form the basis of the Delhi International Action Programme that encourages governments, international organizations, private companies, industry associations, and civil society organizations to take voluntary action for up-scaling renewable energy within their jurisdictions or spheres of responsibility.

The session on the ROAD TO CANCUN discussed global actions for climate change mitigation and adaptation, particularly in the lead-up to UNFCCC COP 16, which will take place in Cancun, Mexico, in December 2010. Kandeh Yumkella, Director- General, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said neither climate change nor meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be solved without an energy revolution. This revolution, he said,
would require: reducing energy intensity by 40% by 2030, translating to a doubling of energy efficiency; and enabling universal energy access. Yumkella described that developing countries view the upcoming UNFCCC COP with mixed emotions, fearing that high expectations will lead to disappointment and that low expectations will further delay action on climate change impacts. On the MDGs, he described efforts to make the renewables issue more prominent in the UN General Assembly.
Rajendra Pachauri, Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said he hoped UNFCCC COP 16 would put climate change adaptation “on track” and emphasized that reducing greenhouse gases and incorporating renewables into the energy matrix are crucial for climate change mitigation. He suggested that COP 16 could be useful for advancing progress on identifying appropriate prices for carbon. Energy security, Pachauri added, has number of co-benefits, including improved energy access, lower air pollution, higher agricultural productivity and increased employment.

The environmental ministry has been quite in the light for its stringency with environmental clearances for industrial projects such as Vedanta and that of the land for the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport. Vedanta is among several top corporations, including South Korea’s Posco, whose Indian projects face delay as a proactive environment ministry tightens rules that often brings it in conflict with other government ministries pushing for rapid industrialisation. “There has been serious violations of environment protection acts,” Ramesh told reporters while rejecting Vedanta’s mining plans that could destroy heavily forested hills sacred to local tribal populations.
“There is no emotion, no politics, no prejudice … I have taken the decision in a purely legal approach. That these laws are being violated.”Vedanta says the mining site is located in an uninhabited area so no one will be displaced, and that the project will help lift the poor district out of poverty. More about this story can be found here.

Regarding the Navi Mumbai Issue the environmental ministry had to clear land where lots of mangroves would need to be cut and people displaced. Initially the ministry refused clearance but now they have reachead an 80% compromise with the ministry of aviation to give the green signal to the Navi Mumbai Airport. To find more developments about this story you could go here.

Also on the eve of Diwali, India celebrated the stocks of the Coal PSU boom. Maybe for a second India forgot that its a country that believes in low carbon economy growth , since if they really believe in that they would not have glorified the Coal PSU this much while keeping in the low profile of all the renewable energy ones. You can read more about the rise of the power of the Coal PSU shares for $20 million here .

The last I saw of Jai Ram Ramesh was when I saw him on TV speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit where he stressed on making the environment a mainstream political issue. He also spoke out about implementing existing environmental laws, which he claimed have gained importance in recent times, stressing on accountability and transparency. He also said that people should pay more attention to the environment for their own well being.

You can find his whole speech stream here.

Hope that this last chance delivers.

and you are a part of that process.

SO get involved, comment and read on….

Tags: bollywood, break ke baad, Cancún, deepika, DIREC, environment ministry, film, hindi, Jai Ram, latest, ranbir, relationships. diwali, south asia. renewable energy, UNFCCC