India calls for continuity of Kyoto Protocol

CANCUN: India has reiterated the need for Kyoto Protocol to continue, even after the end of its first commitment period 2012, to contain global carbon emissions, at the United Nations climate
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CANCUN: India has reiterated the need for Kyoto Protocol to continue, even after the end of its first commitment period 2012, to contain global carbon emissions, at the United Nations climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Negotiators from across the globe expressed concern that failure to deliver in Cancun could lead to loss of trust in the UN system, which is already weakened by the poor show at Copenhagen last year.  

“Cancun should set the stage for international communities to move from deliberations to action in benefit of developing countries suffering from the vulnerabilities of climate change,” said Patricia Espinosa, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico. The minister also said that a package of support mechanisms to combat climate change would be on delivered at the end of the summit on the areas of technology transfer, climate finance, reforestation and adaptation.  

“Cancun can be a success only if we come out with a balanced outcome by building on Copenhagen accord,” said Lykke Friis, Danish Minister for Climate Change. But going by the sources in India, the question of balanced outcome looks remote as the developed countries have failed to deliver on the promises they made at Copenhagen.

“While developing countries such as India have made progress on the commitments made at Copenhagen, the progress on Kyoto Protocol has remained sluggish. There cannot be a balanced outcome if there is no progress in Kyoto Protocol,” said Vijai Sharma, lead negotiator of Indian delegation to Cancun.

Executive Secretary of the UN convention on climate change Christina Figures requested countries to make compromises on the interest of saving the planet. “Even if all the national targets are met to the fullest, they will not prevent the temperature from rising above the benchmarked 2 degree Celsius,” she said.

The international community and civil society hailed India’s willingness to go forward with subjecting its climate change voluntary commitments to international analysis. “Now, the US cannot hold climate finance or technology transfer hostage stating the issue of transparency in India and China,” said Tim Gore, head of Oxfam International, speaking to Express.

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