CEE Jan-Mar 2012

,.. ' is a roadmap for a 2015 accord, which will take effect in 2020. It was adopted by all countries. The Durban Platform does away with differentiation between developed and developing countries, a move that India strongly opposed. Talks on the new legal deal covering all countries will begin next year, when the Kyoto Protocol ends. The 194-party conference agreed to a second commitment period under Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for 37 industrialized nations and the EU to slash carbon emissions to 5 per cent below the 1990 levels by 2012. Till now, China and India were exempted from any constraints because they are developing countries, while the US never signed the Kyoto Protocol. "We came here with plan A, and we have concluded this meeting with plan A to save one planet for the future of our chi ldren and our grandchildren to come. We have made history," the Conference of Parties president and South African foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said, bringing to a close the longest running climate talks in the last two decades of negotiations. While this agreement ensured that the Durban round could be deemed a success, it would appear that the Durban Platform secures the current state of play by taki ng into account and working with the non-negotiable elements or redlines of various country groups. A climate negotiations analyst agreed that deal was weak, and was something of a "greenwash". "Despite the problems and the concerns, achieving an agreement was important, as the failure to do so would have adversely impacted the United Nations' multilateral process," he said. The proposed global climate regime could be a new protocol , or a legal instrument or be an agreed outcome with legal force. The last being an alteration of the option of "legal outcome" pushed by India. A legally binding agreement is a redline for both India and China, by putting in the "legal outcome" option, the way has been found to bring in two of the major emitters and economies into the fold. This is India's only redline to be accommodated in the formulation . New Delhi has had to forgo it insistence on equity as the cornerstone of climate agreements and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility allowing for the differentiation between developed countries. This target date of 2020, introduced in the most recent round of talks, makes it more attractive for Beijing. Xie Zhenhua, China's head of delegation had said that Beijing would consider a legal binding outcome after 2020 if five preconditions, including a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol were met. India and China reluctantly agreed to the Agreement The Durban climate agreement has buried India's reluctance to take emission cuts and has got three years to decide how much carbon emissions reductions it would be willing to take after 2020. India has agreed to reduce its emission intensity by 20 - 25 % of its Gross Domestic Product (GOP) by 2020 in business to usual scenario and Durban platform, the tenn of the agreement, is a step forward. The impact of emission cuts on India's economy and how it makes life costlier for an average citizen will be an issue of debate in the coming years. The new emission reduction regime will be decided on basis of equity, which could mean much lower emission reduction for India as compared to China, whose per capita global warming causing carbon release is almost double of India's. But, the next three years - till 2015 -are crucial as during this period country wise em1ss1on reductions will be decided based on review of the pledges of the rich nations, voluntary mitigation action of the developing world and of fifth assessment report of UN's scientific body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Durban platform fits well for rich nations have been demanding common but differentiated responsibility with respective capabilities, enshrined in the United Nations climate convention. The European media has hailed the conference outcome as major victory for European Union, which on had proposed a timeline based roadmap to operationalise binding climate treaty by 2020. India and China were able to get long term finance to adapt to climate change, transfer and development of clean technologies in Durban outcome but failed to get a legally forceable treaty beyond 2020. The United States came on board as transparency of climate actions and emission reductions for all countries were included. India, China and United States were under immense 25