India wants US on board at Cancun

India aims at bringing United States back on board at Cancun climate talks but has termed its offer on climate mitigation as “homeopathetic”.

Updated on: Nov 29, 2010, 24:34:42 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

India aims at bringing United States back on board at Cancun climate talks but has termed its offer on climate mitigation as “homeopathetic”.

To clinch US, India has two proposals. First, which appeals to the United States, is on measurement review and verification (MRV) regime. India has proposed that nations, whose emissions are one% or more of the global average, should allow verification of their domestic mitigation commitments through a United Nations process.

US has been seeking verification of climate commitments of major emitters like China to agree to any climate treaty and India’s proposal ensures that. Brazil, India’s partner in global talks, has opposed the move.

The second plan is setting up a global network of climate innovations centres on pattern of Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research.

“Until US agrees there is no use of climate talks,” environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, at a Center for Science and Environment function.

Ramesh believes the US offer of reducing emissions by 14% by 2020 to its 2005 level, which is zero as compared to 1990 level, was “pathetic”.

“It is like a homeopathic treatment and is homeopathetic,” he said, while expecting that Cancun will help in building foundation for climate talks.

The biggest bottleneck for Cancun is failure of the rich nations to deliver $30 billion as committed in Copenhagen a year ago. There is clarity only on $seven billion, of which $four billion is being provided for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

The US, which announced $100 billion, has provided only $1.8 billion, of which $400 million is as export credit. “The fast track finance being provided is bizarre,” Ramesh said.

For Cancun, it would mean further dent in the “trust deficit” with the developing world losing faith on the developed nations for its failure to meet its finance commitment.

Around 70% of 193 nations need money to adapt for climate change implications. In all this, Mexico is floating an idea of Cancun mandate, aimed at legitimising the Copenhagen accord, initially between US and few rich countries.

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

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.