India has bridged a consensus at Cancun, but only half the work is done.

Posted on 17. Dec, 2010 by Leela Raina in India | View Comments

Last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh outlined a mandate to the Indian negotiating team lead by Shyam Saran-“India should be part of the solution.” The mandate was clear and India lived up to it by being a key mover in the Copenhagen Accord.

This time, Minister Jai Ram Ramesh is proactively shaping the strategy for climate change negotiations and owing to him India’s role has just been stepped up at the UN climate talks. He was not only able to secure a mandate from the government to look into the potential of India taking binding emission commitments in the future, Jai Ram delivered a powerful intervention at the high level segment of the Cancun conference. Speaking at an open meeting in Cancun, Ramesh told delegates that “all countries must take on binding commitments under appropriate legal form”.

His statement was startling because he said that all economies should take a legally binding commitment in an appropriate legal form. Even though the statement did not go down well back home, and was largely misinterpreted, one has to give credit to Ramesh for bringing countries together and bridging consensus in a setting which was in political deadlock between developed countries and developing countries for years.

“This is a new era of international cooperation on climate change,” said Patricia Espinosa, the Mexican foreign minister and chair of the two-week talks. After years of walk outs, public booing, blocking and the collapse of talks, governments have shown that they can compromise and cooperate, key ingredients in moving forward to achieve a global deal. On the key issue of climate finance, Governments established a fund to deliver the billions needed for the developing world to deal with climate change and stop deforestation. Another major decision on the table in Cancun deals with a mechanism that will protect tropical forests while safeguarding indigenous peoples’ rights and biodiversity. Governments not only acknowledged the gap between their current weak pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and where they need to get to, they actually stated that cuts needed to be in line with the science – 25 to 40 percent cuts by 2020 – and that they need to keep global temperature rise below two degrees. The package gives the nearly 200 countries participating in the conference another year to decide whether to extend the frayed Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 agreement that requires most wealthy nations to trim their emissions while providing assistance to developing countries to pursue a cleaner energy future.

The proposal Ramesh presented at a recent Major Economies Forum meeting and during the Pre – conference for the Cancun talks regarding a framework for the international consultation and analysis on emission reductions was first taken on by “cautious optimism” by the world’s two leading economies, China and the United States. It has attempted to bring the two economies together after a few years of political impasse. China and the United States, the world’s largest emitters of heat-trapping gases, appeared to have agreed Friday night on a formula for ensuring that all nations were adhering to their pledges to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. The accord sets standards for reporting the actions each country is taking to cut its emissions, with requirements for detailed statements of data, economic assumptions and methodology. That seemed to satisfy American concerns that countries could manipulate the emissions and economic data they submitted for international review.

With the conference closing today, India has constructively given face to the solution at Cancun. It has bridged differences between the various heterogeneous groups within the G77 and China negotiating group by standing up for the more vulnerable countries. In its press conference earlier this week in behalf of the BASIC group of countries comprising of Brazil, India, China and South Africa it categorically identified three nonnegotiables: The first one was for keeping the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol since it is currently important to concentrate on the protocol, which is the only legally binding treaty on climate change. Its future is uncertain since several countries want to abandon it. The second nonnegotiable related to the money pledged under the Copenhagen Accord by the developed countries for adaptation ( combating adverse impacts of climate change ) activities last year. Ramesh said that this money would be prioritized for the Island states, Africa and least developed countries, which won him support from the G77 and China negotiating bloc. The third nonnegotiable was on a technology cooperation mechanism that builds on the Delhi Clean Tech Mechanism India spearheaded in finding consensus.

Mohamed Aslam, Minister of Housing and Environment and representative of the Maldives at the talks said
“We want to show appreciation to the role that India and in particular Jairam Ramesh has played in these negotiations helping to bring the different parties together to get a global deal on climate change.”

India called the president of the conference – the Mexican Foreign Minister Espinosa a ‘goddess’ who has restored faith in multilateralism, and told plenary that ‘we have an agreement in Cancun’. President Espinosa went ahead to thank Ramesh for his efforts to break deadlocks yesterday.

The UN climate conference in Cancun may have saved the multilateral process after last year’s abject failure in Copenhagen, but we have not yet been saved from climate change. Although the steps were fairly modest and do not require the broad changes that scientists say are needed to avoid dangerous climate change, the result was a major step forward for a process that has stumbled badly in recent years.

Espinosa appreciating Jai Ram’s efforts

Posted on 11. Dec, 2010 by Leela Raina in India | View Comments

Mexican COP16 President Espinosa calls out Jai Ram Ramesh, in the informal plenary, for his efforts of to resolve political deadlock and bridge consensus for the Cancun outcome.

Ramesh has been able to bridge the divides between the G77 group of countries who consist of vulnerable group of countries, island states and least developed countries by prioritizing the finance for adaptation activities to them as well as making it non negotiable for an agreement at Cancun.

Ramesh also brought together China and USA through the ICA proposal.

Booking Tours already are we?

Posted on 10. Dec, 2010 by Leela Raina in India | View Comments

Looks like the Indian Delegation is already on their way to a big tour.

Caught Mauscar, the additional secretary asking for information on tours this afternoon. After all when the cat ( Jai RamRamesh) is away in meetings the mice come out to play.

So India, is pretty sure of a breakthrough where they will be mediators. They want to be the face of the solution at Cancun. They want to be the ones who won the award and came back home.

At this point of time they’re busy in a G77 coordination meeting trying to see how to carry all the various political groups together through the next texts and reconvene later.

Rashmi and Vijai sit together worried gossiping away with the Chinese delegates.

New Kyoto text is looking weak, more on that later.