Jairam Ramesh admits deviating from India's stance

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh made a bold statement in Cancun climate summit stating India is willing to accept binding commitments under an appropriate legal form, considered as a deviation from India's stand. In conversation with Chetan Chauhan, Ramesh gives reasons for it. Cancun vs Copenhagen | Possible agreements

Updated on: Dec 9, 2010, 12:32:01 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, Cancun

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Environment minister Jairam Ramesh made a bold statement in Cancun climate summit stating India is willing to accept binding commitments under an appropriate legal form, considered as a deviation from India's stand. In conversation with Chetan Chauhan, Jairam Ramesh gives reasons for it.

Why did you make this statement at Cancun?
We have to accept the changing global reality. G-77 (whose part India is) has been vocally calling for legally binding instrument. South Africa and Brazil, which are part of our Basic group (others are India and China), have also been asking for the same. Our neighbours Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan have made a similar assertion. Island nations, which is a strong group of 43 nations, had made a strong case for legally binding agreement for all countries. India, China, Bolivia, Philippines and Saudi Arabia had expressed reservations on legally binding nature. We have to be sensitive to all groups.

Is it not a deviation from India's position on climate change?
Not going against our fundamental position. That is not a legally binding agreement at this stage. I have just said that all countries must agree to binding commitments under a appropriate legally binding form. It is not a deviation. For one week we opposed legally binding agreement as we don't know the contents of the legally binding agreement, don't know what penalties will be imposed for non-compliance and do not know the monitoring system.

Is it for the first time you have made such a statement?
Yes, for the first time I have said this.

So, is it a deviation?
The cabinet has given me a mandate not to agree to any legally binding agreement at this stage, which I have not crossed. We have been opposing invoking Article 17 of the convention, which allows legally binding agreement, for a week. What I said was to keep India's options open in global climate negotiations. I don't want to put India in a corner. We should have room to maneuver for the next two years.

Is it part of our "flexible" climate approach?
This is part of a flexible approach. We are flexible on ICA (International Consultancy and Analysis for domestic mitigation actions), forestry and technology issues. I will like to reiterate that I have not violated any cabinet decision. Have been faithful to it.

Were you under any pressure?
No. It was a deliberate decision to expand India's room in negotiations for the next one year till the Durban climate summit. India can attain global leadership by only expanding its negotiating space. Negotiating position must evolve in time with reality. It cannot remain frozen over a period of time. I admit our position has evolved, keeping in mind India's changing global role.

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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