The Hindu Business Line : India seeks legally binding pledges on rich nations

COPENHAGEN: With hopes for a far-reaching deal on climate change receding, India is making a strong pitch for extending the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012 and commitments that legally bind developed countries to reduce emissions.

The crucial talks at the climate change summit were suspended briefly on Monday following a walkout by the BASIC bloc, including India and China, protesting that the rich countries were making attempts to shirk responsibility in tackling global warming. The Africa also group boycotted the proceedings briefly.

The talks resumed after the BASIC bloc succeeded in extracting an assurance from the Chair that the summit would proceed in a “fully transparent” manner without any “surprises’’.

The Indian Environment Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, made it clear that the goal now is to produce two texts under the Long Term Cooperative Action (LCA) track and KP tracks by Wednesday or Thursday morning.

The BASIC bloc and Africa want the developed countries to make mitigation pledges under the second commitment period from 2013-2018 but the European Union, Australia, Japan, Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) want a document broader than the existin g Protocol that puts obligations on the United States and on emerging economies. — PTI

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