Mixed response to Copenhagen Accord

The Copenhagen Accord has received mixed response in India with climate experts divided on its implications for the country while Left parties and some NGOs have attacked it.

The Copenhagen Accord has received mixed response in India with climate experts divided on its implications for the country while Left parties and some NGOs have attacked it.

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"Basically, the climate deal struck in Copenhagen is the first step towards a more comprehensive legal framework to tackle global warming," Nitin Desai, a member of Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change, told PTI.

He said that things would be clearer early next year when developed countries declare their commitments as per the deal in Copenhagen.

Navroz K Dubash, senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, felt the Accord was "quite a weak deal" which was "highly inadequate" to address the challenge of global warming.

The deal reached at Copenhagen on Saturday does not commit any nation to emissions cuts beyond a general acknowledgement that global temperatures should be held along the lines agreed to by leading nations in July.

The issue of review of mitigation actions had become a sticking point in the negotiations and an agreeable formulation was reached at only after US President Barack Obama stepped in to break the logjam meeting the leaders of Brazil, South Africa, India and China.