CEE Oct-Dec 2002

F thrust. Envi ronment and sustainahility are sti ll not mattersof importance in global trade negotiations. And. the target of contributing 0.7 per cent ofGNP (of developed countr ies) as offic ial deve lopment assistance (ODA) appears unattainable in the near future. C learly, we are losing time. SUSTAINABILITY /Ihlufit Chal/eJ_jee. D JICI i 1: 1 t ·im·ockindia'f 1,11 ·in rock. en tef. i11 Unlike the UNFCCC. the Kyoto Protocol was not quite acceptable (in its original form) by the global leaders. who differed on a variety or issues conta i ned in the draft 'ersion. The next three Conferences - CoP- 4 ( 1998) in Buenos A ires, CoP-5 ( 1999) in f3onn, and CoP-6 (2000) in The !Iague- sought to simplify these opera t io nal proced ures and guidelines. However, complex interplay of individual countries' interests made consensus bui lding di rficult. Some headway was fi nally achieved dur ing the Seventh Conference of the Parties (CoP -7, Marrakesh 200 I). The Marrakesh Round was marked by drafting of th e Marrakesh Accord and the Marrakesh Declaration that la id down (in keeping with the Kyoto Protocol) si mp l ified rules and operating procedures. I t is worth noting that all partcipating countries at Marrakcsh signed the document, except for the United States. It is with th is background that the Eighth Conference of Parties (CoP-S)'' ill be held in New Delhi from October 23 to November I. 2002. T he agenda will revo lve around l'inalization of the outs tandin g glo bal issues of consensus contained in the K yoto Protocol, including the ratitication of' the Protocol itse lf. The Key (1Utstanding i ssues i nc l ude formalization of the guidelines for reporting and review of national GI IG inventories and establishing the procedu res for the C OM Executive Board. The Protocol comes into force if at least 55 per cent of the signatory Parties to the convention, representi ng at least 55 per cent of the globa l em issions ratify the Protocol. Wi th the absence of the US, success of the ratificat ion process w i II depend mainly on the pol ic ies adopted by the othe r A nnex- 1 countries, especially Canada and Austral ia. I ndia. which is yet to ratify the Protocol , is a major power wi th in the developing countries (the G-77, as it is ca lled), and will be under immense pressure to assume an active role in t he consensus build i ng process towards rati tication of the Protocol. In many ways, the WSSD and the CoP-8 have a lot to achieve. It is expected that climate change w ill be a major environmental issue to be debated and d iscussed at Johannesburg and New De lhi . Various interest groups across th! g lobe have pinned thei r hopes on to these two events. The two events can prom ise livelihoods to the millions of underpri vi leged, to provide respite to th e natu ral resources, and to strike a balance wit hin the worl d ecology fo r a sustai nable future. ASERIOUS THREAT Dr. RK Poclwuri, in The Economic Ti111es, March 26, 2002 Cli mate change represents a se rious threat to every patt of the globe, and it would be ridiculous to believe that this isjust another issue being pushed by the West down the throats of the developing worl d. If this was not the case then we would ha ve had a ve ry d i fferent Framework Convention of Climate Change which was agreed to at the Rio summit of 1992. In fact, the very first draft of this Convention was tab led by the Indian delegation. 75 The drart, of course, underwent several changes on the basis of d iscussions and nego tiation s between the parties involved. The ,Convention was based, therefore. not only on substantive inputs provided by I nd i a but al so by several other developing countries. Sim i lnrly, the K yo to protocol. wh ich g ives pract ica l form to the Framewo r k Conven ti on was arrived at on the basis of intensive. and at time s even ac r imonious discussions. The fact that the world has stiII not ratified the Protocol clearl y ind icates that it is ~ot the product of any conspiracy hatched by the rich nations against the poor. India as major developing country must suppon the Kyoto Protocol by arranging to ratify it as early as possible. This becomes even more importan t for symboli c and practica l reasons because India woul d be hosting the e ighth Conference o f the Parties to the convention in October-November this year. The growi ng concern about cl imate change is based on very convincing sc i enti fi e analysi s. Ment ion must be made i n th is context of the outstanding work of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, a body established in 1988 jointly by the World Meteorological Organization nne! the Un ited Nations Environment Pr ogram . T he I PCC, w h ic h f unc t ions with a ve ry lean Secretar iat based i11Ge11eva. ltas been able to mobil ize the world's leading sc ienti sts and expert s drawn from all over to comeup " ·ith a series of th ree success i ve assessment reports on the '~ho l e range ofquestions related to climate change, as well as a set of !:>pecial reports on very specialized subjects in this fie ld. The work of the IPCC. which form the ba sis o f currenl know ledge on the prospects of climate change, its likely impacts,