India reaches out to small island nations on climate change

Betwa Sharma
New York, Sep 21 (PTI) India has reached out to small
island states, which are the most vulnerable to climate
change, to convey its sensitivity to their concerns on the
issue, Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has said.
The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) had asked
emerging economies like India and China to take legally
binding cuts on carbon emissions at the Copenhagen conference
last year.
Noting that AOSIS clearly wants India and China,
Brazil and South Africa to take on much more ambitious
mitigation requirements, Ramesh told PTI: "The whole idea of
meeting the AOSIS group was to convey to them that we are
sensitive to their concerns.. We have a peninsular India in
which 300 million people live in vulnerable coastal areas."
In fact, a central component of Environment Minister
Jairam Ramesh's trip to New York this week was to reach out to
Small Island States on the climate issue.
"The capacity building exercise we have announced was
widely welcomed by the AOSIS group and we will take it
forward," Ramesh said while stressing that India is the first
developing country to have published its Greenhouse Gas
inventory for the year 2007.
Key elements of the Copenhagen Accord include a limit
2 degree rise of global temperature, USD 100 billion on
finance in long-term finance to developing countries and USD
30 billion to short-term finance to the poorest and most
vulnerable countries.
These tiny nations have contributed 0.3 per cent to
global warming want a 1.5 degree Celsius limit.
UN scientists have warned that if the 2 degree Celsius
is allowed, then there is a very real possibility that some of
these nations go under the sea.
During the Copenhagen Conference, Palau President
Johnson Toribiong had urged China and India to provide
technology and finances to poorer countries to combat climate
change. (More) PTI BS RET
MRD


The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this
message are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain
proprietary, confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended
recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify
the sender immediately and destroy all copies of this message and any attachments
contained in it.