India wants Paris climate change pact to recognise its need for growth, funding

India has demanded that the climate change pact to be agreed upon at the UN-sponsored climate meet in Paris (COP-21) in December should recognise its need for growth, assign differentiated responsibilities on countries based on their carbon emissions in the past, enhance the green climate fund, and foster collaboration in technology.

“The first draft agreement that was circulated was lop-sided and in favour of the developed countries and we opposed it. In the recent meeting in Bonn, attempts were made to balance the text and our submissions were taken note of,” a government official said at a press briefing on Thursday.

The revised draft, which includes concerns raised by developing countries, including India, will form the base of discussions in Paris and the final agreement is likely to be carved out of that.

“The revised draft is a 55-page document that reflects aspirations of all countries. In Paris, countries will prune it down to something that enjoys the consent of all,” the official added.

At the COP-21, as many as 190 countries will work towards a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping a check on global warming.

The primary goal for India in Paris would be to ensure that the responsibilities for mitigating climate change should not affect its need for growth and providing a decent livelihood to its people.

“Statistics indicate that around 48 per cent of households in India still lack basic socio-economic services. We already have a development deficit. Our responsibilities should not be such that the deficit grows,” the official said.

New Delhi has also submitted that the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities enshrined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) should be fully adhered to.

“It has been recognised by the UNFCC that countries responsible for much of the climate change that has taken place should take on more responsibilities to mitigate it. We want the Paris agreement to reflect this principle,” the official said.

Emphasising that any acceleration in efforts by developing countries to combat climate change will require industrial finance and technological support, India has demanded that the green capital fund for funding environment-friendly projects in developing countries should be suitably enhanced, technology should be readily transferred to developing countries and finance should be available for poorer countries over and above the Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans.

As part of its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), India has offered a 33-35 per cent reduction in its carbon emission intensity — noxious gasses emitted per unit of economic output — by 2030 from 2005 levels.

It also intends to generate about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

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