US wants periodic climate review

In an unambiguous message to all countries on climate action, the United States said on Wednesday that they could not get away with doing nothing or next to nothing after making pledges, though the Paris Agreement did not propose penalties.

Secretary of State John Kerry praised India for its forward-thinking International Solar Alliance that had the capacity to produce technological breakthroughs and drive progress, but he said carbon pollution knew no origin, whether it arose from “Baltimore, Beijing, Calcutta or Cape Town”.

The Paris Agreement held great promise since it relied on verifiable voluntary steps, rather than a fixed percentage of cuts which the Kyoto Protocol contained.

Mr. Kerry cited the Chennai floods as an example of climate disasters happening more frequently now. About 300 people perished, including “18 in a hospital where the generator was flooded, affecting oxygen supply”.

The key messages in Mr. Kerry’s address to an invited audience at CoP21, before the base text for the 195 countries was released, were — the U.S. recognised the differentiated responsibilities of countries and was willing to provide more in financing, including its own funds, and work with the World Bank and other institutions, though the real driver would be private capital in a clean economy; national pledges made in Paris should be reviewed in five years because progress would change national circumstances; investments in clean energy were actually cheaper because of avoided costs on environmental degradation and public health.

The U.S. would double its public grant based climate finance by 2020, he announced.

India remains firm

India maintained its bargaining position, calling upon the developed countries to decide who was to “switch the light off first”, when it comes to carbon emissions cuts.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, when asked by a journalist whether India was ready to adopt 1.5 degrees as its ambition for future rise in global temperatures over pre-industrial levels, retorted: “The developed countries must define who will switch off the lights first.”

On the question of a five-year review of India’s INDC after 2020, the Minister said the Indian pledge was for the period until 2030 and others who wished to update it earlier could do so voluntarily.

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India hits out at Kerry for terming it a ‘challenge’ at Paris meet

India has reacted strongly to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement that the country will be a “challenge” in the coming climate change talks in Paris.

“It is in a way unfair to say that India will be a challenge. It is actually not doing justice to India,” Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told PTI.

“The U.S. is our great friend and strategic partner. His [Kerry’s] comment is unwarranted and unfair. The attitude of some of the developed countries is the challenge for the Paris conclusion,” the Minister said.

Mr. Javadekar said there was no question of compromising on India’s stand on climate change. He blamed the “attitude” of the developed countries for the problem. India was trying to “proactively” forge a consensus on the issue.

The Minister said while there was no pressure from the developed world on India, the country was also not in the habit of taking pressure from anybody.

“We’ve got a lot of focus on India right now to try to bring them along. India has been more cautious, a little more restrained, in its embrace of this new paradigm, and it’s a challenge,” Mr. Kerry had told an international business daily.

The Paris Climate Conference, slated to take place from November 30 to December 11, will look to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate to check global warming.

“When you are doing a global arrangement, every country will put forth its issues. We have to take consensus along. India is always is on the side of consensus. We are proactively helping to bring consensus. We are not naysayers, but helping bring consensus. It is not about compromising,” Mr. Javadekar said. “….But our firm belief is Paris will be under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and with all its principles like CBDR, historical responsibility, polluter to pay and equity. All are embedded in the new Paris agreement.”

While the developed world has been looking at increased emission cuts from developing countries, the latter — including India — have sought common but differentiated responsibility. Shorn of jargon, it means that the developed world has been the prime polluter since its early lead in industrialization and stays way ahead in emissions per capita to this day, meaning that it cannot expect nations now industrializing to forget this skew.

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