India has pulled the rug out from under
those who would try to spin the outcome of the Durban Climate Conference as some sort of step towards an international agreement to limit emissions. The Indian Environmental Minister
Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan, had this to say before the Indian parliament upon returning from Durban:
India has always taken a stand that India cannot
agree to a legally binding agreement for emissions reduction at this
stage of our development. Our emissions are bound to grow as we have to
ensure our social and economic development and fulfill the imperative of
poverty eradication.
Some Parties led by the European Union wanted to delete the option
relating to ‘legal outcome’ which was originally mooted by India., We
successfully resisted this pressures and in turn suggested a similar
expression ‘agreed outcome with legal force’ which found acceptance with
all the Parties. The post 2020 arrangements, when finalized, may
include some aspirational CoP decisions, binding CoP decisions, setting
up of new institutions and bodies, and new protocols or other legal
instruments as necessary to implement the decisions covering various
issues with various degrees of binding-ness as per domestic or
international provisions of law under the Convention.
I must clarify that this decision does not imply that India has to take
binding commitments to reduce its emissions in absolute terms in 2020.
So much for the spin.
