In a major concession to rich countries before December’s climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, environment and forests
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The opposition
* Sunita Narian,
director, Centre for Science and Environment, says, “The minister should first seek people’s permission for making such an offer which’ll have huge implications for India.”
* Sirish Sinha, head, climate change and energy section, World Wildlife Fund-India, says annual reporting to the UN will make it difficult for India to push for a “business as usual scenario”. |
minister Jairam Ramesh has offered an annual report to the Union Nations on India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and measures to reduce it.
Under the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012, only rich countries are required to submit annual reports on their commitment to reduce GHGs.
There is no such binding requirement for developing countries such as India and China, which submit their national declarations on climate change once in six years.
India’s annual report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will tighten global monitoring regulations on its climate-change policies, according to experts.
India is expected to become the third-largest GHG emitter by 2030 from its present fifth position.
“An annual communication to the UN will say what we’re doing, what the results are, how’s it being implemented, the impact,” Ramesh told Hindustan Times on Saturday, after returning from New York, where the offer was made at a UN summit on climate change.
“We want to be transparent to the international community, but domestically accountable to our voters,” the minister added.