WASHINGTON: As the UN Climate Change Conference gets under way in Cancun, Mexico, next week, the United States expects India to play ‘a very important role’ in the two weeks of deliberations to make progress on outstanding issues.
“India had a very important role last year in Copenhagen, and I think India will have a very important role this year, particularly if we have a chance of getting anywhere,” US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern told reporters.
“India has the potential. Obviously, it’s an important voice on the developing country side,” he said, noting that India has shown a commitment to principles and a willingness to be pragmatic.
Stern did not subscribe to the view that Brazil, South Africa, India and China had turned themselves into a bloc. True, they have formed a group called BASIC and holding quarterly meetings. But then, there are so many crisscrossing groups, so it is fine for BASIC to share ideas and views, he said.
According to him, the challenge at Cancun will be “To find a way to build on the progress made last year in the Copenhagen accord through the direct intervention of many of the world’s leaders, including President Obama”.
Even though the Copenhagen Summit fell short of what many had hoped for, Stern felt the accord took an important step forward in addressing climate change, including progress on all the key elements of the negotiations, with much of it in face-to-face discussions among leaders.
Referring to the accord’s landmark financing provisions and reaching agreement among the developed and developing countries to implement mitigation targets or actions in an internationally transparent manner, the US official said, “What we are seeking now in Cancun is a balanced package of decisions on these points.” “It is now widely understood that a legal treaty this year is not on the cards. There is broad convergence on the notion that a package of decisions is desirable and the devil will most certainly be in the details.
To preserve the balance of the package in Cancun, we need to make comparable progress on all the core issues included in the accord,” he said.
Stern, however, conceded that a treaty requiring legally binding mitigation commitments may not happen soon, repeating the US view that a pact seeking commitments from it, the European Union, Australia, Japan and other developed countries should seek the same from India, China and other emerging economies as well.