Developing nations prevent UN stamp on carbon tax

A bid to impose carbon tax on aviation and maritime transport has got thumbs down from developing nations with Cuba terming it a violation of the basic principle of the United Nations climate convention of common but differentiated responsibility.

Updated on: Dec 2, 2011, 02:19:29 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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A bid to impose carbon tax on aviation and maritime transport has got thumbs down from developing nations with Cuba terming it a violation of the basic principle of the United Nations climate convention of common but differentiated responsibility.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation and International Maritime Organisation have proposed carbon tax on the lines of what Europe would be implementing for flights landing there from January 2012.

Speaking at the ongoing Durban Climate Change Conference on behalf of India, China, Argentina, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Egypt and Algeria, Cuba accused the two organisations of trying to burden developing countries for meeting emission reduction targets of developed countries.

The international organisations want a global framework of carbon tax on airlines and shipping companies, which fail to meet emission norms of certain regions, such as Europe.

The European Union wants to extend its carbon tax regime called Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) to the shipping sector by 2015 and is looking at ratification of the same from the UN's top climate body.

According to UN convention, rich nations are required to reduce emissions and pay for climate mitigation in the developing world. The proposal, however, aims to turn the tables.

"These measures would have political, economic and social implications and affect trade, particularly in the developing world," the statement said.

Cuba also accused the two international organisations of proposing a tax regime without considering objections from developing countries. Indian environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan has already written to the European Commission opposing the "unfair" tax. Her sentiments were reflected in Cuba's statement which emphasised the need for transfer of technologies and money for developing nations to improve international transport.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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