Fair and multilateral framework on climate change needed:India

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Mar 25 (PTI) Taking up the leadership mantle
of the third world countries, India has demanded to develop a
fair and equitable multilateral framework on climate change,
which would help nations across the globe to make an early
transition to a carbon free economy.

Addressing a meeting at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Relations, a prestigious Washington-based think
tank, Indian Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Climate Change
Shyam Saran said Tuesday India would like the United States to
take a leadership role in this regard.

He said the successful conclusion of the Indo-US
civilian nuclear agreement, had enabled the two countries to
plan a much more ambitious agenda of collaborations under
Obama's Renewable Energy Initiative. "But we also need to work
together on building a multilateral framework which is fair
and equitable and helps us make an early transition to a
carbon free economy. We need to see US leadership in this
regard," Saran said.

India hopes, Saran said that the 15th COP in Copenhagen
will deliver a fair and equitable, and also an ambitious
outcome based on the UNFCCC and the Bali Action Plan.

"India is prepared to work together with the US towards
this objective. This will provide a global environment for not
only the successful implementation of our Action Plan but to
enable its significant scaling up," he said.

"India's main interest in the multilateral negotiations
leading upto the 15th Conference of Parties in Copenhagen in
December this year, is to ensure the emergence of a global
regime, under the UNFCCC, which would be development-oriented
and supportive of our own ambitious national efforts on
Climate Change, both in Mitigation and in Adaptation," Saran
said.

India also expect, Saran said, as do the overwhelming
majority of developing countries, that the Copenhagen outcome
will be fair and equitable, with developed, industrialised
countries assuming significant GHG emission reduction targets,
while supporting sustainable development in developing
countries through transfers of financial and technological
resources.

"The United States, of course, will be a key driver of
this process, not only because its GHG emissions are the
largest, but more so because it is the chief source of
technological innovation and creative entrepreneurship,
elements critical to finding and disseminating climate
solutions," Saran said.

At the same time, the Special Envoy on Climate Change
said India would continue its bilateral track with the US as
it believes that it will be a productive avenue for both our
countries to meet the twin challenges of Climate Change and
energy security. PTI