Ramesh says he 'nuanced' India's position on emission cuts

நன்றி: The Economic Times
CANCUN: A day after environment minister Jairam Ramesh made an unplanned statement on the legal form of the negotiations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stepped into defend him. “Don’t read too much into it,” Prime minister Singh said. At Cancun, the environment minister clarified that his statement was an effort to “nuancing” India’s position. Mr Ramesh has maintained that his vaguely worded one-liner was an attempt to maneuver more space for India at a time it appeared that it was being pushed to a corner.

At the high level segment plenary on Wednesday, Mr Ramesh said that “all countries must take binding commitments under appropriate legal form”. The environment minister’s statement has been understood by many quarters as committing India to legally binding emission cuts and a legally binding agreement. Both these are non-negotiables for India. Mr Ramesh has clarified that at no point had he committed India to legally binding emission cuts or to a legally binding agreement at this stage.

Mr Ramesh might be under attack at home, but his vaguely worded statement appears to have done the trick with the Alliance of Small Island States. A senior adviser to the AOSIS said, “mr ramesh’s statement has been well received by the small island states. It shows a willingness to engage with our concerns.” On Thursday morning, Mr Ramesh had a meeting with the AOSIS ministers and representatives where he announced India’s plan to provide assistance for capacity building. India will provide technical assistance, training and fellowships in the areas of adaptation, coastal zone management and sustainable forestry. The response of the vulnerable countries would come as a relief to the minister. "I think India's national interest has been advanced and improved by coming across as proactive, which is important for a country as large as India," Mr Ramesh said.

The AOSIS, backed by the European Union, had submitted a proposal calling for a legal agreement in the Bali track of negotiations. A demand that India has steadfastly opposed. However, at Cancun, the proposal received wide support from the Africa Group, the less developed countries, and even from two BASIC members—South Africa and brazil. Even four South Asian countries—Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan—pushed for a legally binding outcome. Fearing that the events would lead to India’s isolation at a time when it was being seen as a progressive and proactive player in climate negotiations, Mr Ramesh sought to reach out to these sections of the developing country bloc.

A move that has been viewed domestically as a deviation from India’s stated position. The environment minister, however, reiterated that he has not gone beyond the brief approved by the Cabinet. The red lines put forward by the Cabinet included not taking on any binding emission cuts, not entering into any agreement without securing a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol , and finally not to enter into a legally binding agreement “at this stage.”

Mr Ramesh positions his statement in the context of this last directive. "There is no shift in the position, only nuancing," he said, pointing out that India was trying to find room for "maneuver" due to increasing pressure from developing nations . "We remain anchored in non-negotiable but we are expanding our options. All I said was that all countries must take binding commitments in appropriate legal form. This does not mean that India is taking on a legally binding agreement at this stage. That's our position," Mr Ramesh said.

"Negotiations is all about flexibility, negotiations is all about seeing what is happening and responding creatively. I think frankly, I have not changed the goal post, I have nuanced our position. Our positions remains let me say we will not accept a legally binding agreement at this stage. We are not the bad guys, that's very important for India not to be isolated in any of these international forums and we have larger stake in the world economy today that we had perhaps 25 years ago," the minister said.

Mr Ramesh has argued that India’s position on climate change has been evolving and needs to evolve further, especially as expectations from India are changing as well as the country’s own aspirations.