Climate talks: Developed countries trying to ‘shift’ responsibility, says India

New Delhi: Terming as "game changer" the national climate action plans of every country, India strongly voiced its concern over exclusion of these plans in the new draft negotiating text unveiled by climate change negotiators and said developed countries did not fulfil their obligations.

India also termed as "disappointing" the issue of finance, saying while developed countries failed to fulfil their obligations, they are also trying to "shift" their responsibility to developing nations.

India said that there was no indication of scaling of finance by the developed nations nor was there any roadmap.

"I must stress that the concept of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) is a great innovation and has proved a game-changer. It has enabled the participation of over 186 countries. Yet, INDCs are not even mentioned in the draft, said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

"On finance, it is deeply disappointing that on the one hand developed countries are not fulfilling their obligations and on the other hand, they are trying to shift their responsibilities to developing countries themselves. There is no indication of scaling up of finance nor a clear roadmap," he said during a negotiating session.

The first draft of the Paris Outcome, prepared after two days of high-level ministerial deliberations, was released by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius yesterday at a crucial climate change conference.

The draft negotiating text is now of 29 pages down from a 43-page version and was circulated to all the negotiating countries.

India strongly put across its point that durable agreement at Paris "cannot" be crafted by "diluting" historical responsibilities or by putting the polluters and the victims at the same level.

India also appreciated leadership and efforts of the Presidency while asserting that it associates itself with the statements made on behalf of G-77.

"I must stress that the concept of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) is a great innovation and has proved a game-changer. It has enabled the participation of over 186 countries. Yet, INDCs are not even mentioned in the draft, said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar during a negotiating session.

"On finance, it is deeply disappointing that on the one hand developed countries are not fulfilling their obligations and on the other hand, they are trying to shift their responsibilities to developing countries themselves. There is no indication of scaling up of finance nor a clear roadmap," he said.

Describing the latest draft as the "starting point for the final push", Javadekar said there were many "points of departure" at this stage of negotiations and much work is need to reach a point of convergence.

India also made it clear that the agreement which is being crafted "must carefully" balance climate ambition and the principle of differentiation as both are equally important and one cannot have one without the other.

"It needs to be reaffirmed upfront in the agreement that it is under the Convention (UNFCCC) and in accordance with its principles. Its objective is to enhance the implementation of the Convention across all its pillars," Javadekar said.

"This is crucial. The principles of the Convention must be stated correctly without any unnecessary additions," he added.

India also stressed that the agreement must also "meaningfully" operationalise differentiation across all its elements which is "not clear" in the current draft.

India also said that it was in favour of a robust transparency mechanism but it should apply not just to mitigation but all other elements, particularly finance.

"The transparency mechanism should cover all countries, in a differentiated manner. Implementing the current system which has not yet been made operational is an essential component to build capacity and experience in developing countries. A transition period is therefore needed before changes could be made," Javadekar said.

India also strongly said that several of its concerns including unilateral measures, sustainable lifestyles and climate justice did not find a mention in the draft.

"We will examine the draft carefully and engage with all our partners to reach an agreement," Javadekar said.

Elaborating on the draft text, Fabius, who is the chair of the current round of climate negotiations, had earlier said the aim of the text was to enable nations to have an overall view of the progress that has been made so far.

"It (draft text) is shorter than the previous version of 48 pages. It is 29 pages long now. There has been three quarter reduction in points that were there in the bracket.

The aim of the text is to enable us (nations) to have an overall view of the progress made," he said.