CEE Jan-Mar 2012

,. including a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol were met. As far as China is concerned it doesn't matter if the roadmap is finalized by 2015, provided it is not implemented before 2020. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 1ih Dec. 2011, P3. AT DURBAN, WILY WEST MANAGES TO LOCK IN LOW REDUCTION TARGETS Only Noble Worlds, No Bid to Cut Emissions As workers dismantled the temporary structures here, removing all traces of the two weeks of hectic negotiations at the UN climate change talks, it became clear that there had been no real efforts to ensure greater reduction in emissions. The industrialized countries spoke of the need to do more, pushing advanced developing countries to cross their red lines, or non-negotiables, in the name of greater ambition. The European Union had gone into Durban linking a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol to an agreement to begin work on a future global pact which included all countries. The EU got its way, and felt the decision by China and India to sign on to a new global regime that includes them, was a big step in dealing with climate change. With the attention so focused on the new regime, little was done to step up efforts to reduce emissions under the only existing legally binding pact - the Kyoto Protocol . While a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol has now been secured , there has been no increase in the emission reduction targets that industrialized countries have taken on. Further, the industrialized countries have managed to lock, in their low targets for eight years, even as they insisted the world needed to act quickly. With the global deal now secured, the EU is expected to increase efforts to reduce emissions by 30 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020. It will not, as demanded by science and developing countries, reduce its emissions by 40 per cent. The EU cites its internal legislative measure of 'Climate and Energy package' and its Renewable Energy' directive, which sets a 20 per cent share for renewables in the energy basket, for the 30 per cent em1ss1on reduction target. Calculations by the European Commission reveal these internal unilateral measures do not prevent it from achieving a higher emission reduction target. But it is not just in emission reduction targets where this asymmetry of effort is reflected. It becomes clearer in the text of decisions on the Bali Action Plan adopted at Durban. This text places greater responsibility on developing countries such as India. The differentiation between developed and developing countries - which has been the bedrock of the global climate regime - has already been written out, even before work on the Durban Plan on Enhanced Action could begin. While there are specific timelines for actions or requirements that developing countries have to meet, there is no timeline for support, neither technology nor finance, from developed countries. Courtesy: The Economic Times, December. 13, 2011, P3. DURBAN DEAL Mixed bag for India, EU the winner at Durban Though environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan was hailed as a tough negotiator, the final Durban climate deal could at best be a mixed bag for India with European Union as the clear winner. Former president Arun Bharat Ram expressed scepticism at an emission cut regime by 2020 but welcomed the second commitment period for Kyoto Protocol (2013 - 2017) and the Green Climate Fund to finance climate change actions of the developing world. Ms. Natarajan till the last moment refused to binding emission cuts but agreed to avoid the tag of being a deal– breaker. The breakthrough came when the EU replaced the word 'binding' with 'forceable'. The binding nature of the proposed treaty will be finalized by a new working group between 2012 and 2015, when the real climate battle will take place. It will be interesting to watch how India plays its cards in the new working group considering its annual per capita emissions (of 1.7 tonnes) is even lower than some of the island nations such as Barbados, which sought binding emission commitments from India and China. The rich nations are seeking comparable emission cuts by India and China, two big carbon emitters, but whether India will buckle again is the big question. The next four years will see India fight to embed equity in the new treaty to be finalized by 2015. "The concept of equity has faded at the Durban conference," said Sanjay 23