Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has voiced strong reservations over Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and UN Chief Ban-Ki-Moon pressing for submission of emission targets and climate actions under the Copenhagen Accord before the January 31 deadline.
The prime minister in his reply
to a joint letter from Rasmussen and the UN Secretary General is unhappy over their insistence for definitive follow-up action to the Accord before the world body's January 31 deadline, sources in the PMO said on Sunday.
Singh's reservations came while apparently questioning the legal status of the various provisions included in the Accord which is silent on the Kyoto Protocol based on equity burden sharing among the member nations.
"Before going ahead with targets submission, the prime minister wants to be clarified on certain issues which are silent in Ban's letter," the sources added.
In the absence of the consensus at the Danish capital last December, the UN members just took note of the Copenhagen Accord and agreed to submit their voluntarily emission cuts as well as climate action plans.
As per the Accord, Appendix 1 is intended for "economy-wide emissions targets" for 2020 for Annex-I (rich countries) while Appendix 2 is for "mitigation actions" by non-Annex I (developing) countries. These commitments can
become operational immediately.
However, what has irked the prime minister is a separate joint letter sent by Rasmussen and Ban to all heads of state
and governments, urging them to submit their commitments by January 31.
Singh has also expressed inability to detail the country's action plan and targets in such a short period, the sources said.