India welcomes Marrakesh Action Proclamation

Welcoming the Marrakesh Action Proclamation, India today said that most of its demands including the issue of providing finance to developing nations to tackle climate change has been incorporated and it will continue to push its agenda as per the Paris agreement.
Noting that there were many efforts to derail the process here, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said despite being held right after Paris summit, the Marrakesh conference is moving in the right direction which is its success.
The Marrakesh Action Proclamation For our Climate and Sustainable Development, which was issued yesterday, asked countries to combat climate change as a matter of "urgent priority" while noting that climate is warming at an "alarming and unprecedented" rate.

"One should not look at this CoP from the Paris window. That (Paris) was a big event. Now in the coming years, the picture will start clearing. It will evolve gradually. The direction is right. Whatever issues India had demanded or was trying to incporate, those have been accommodated in it (proclamation)," Dave said.
The Marrakesh Action Proclamation, which was agreed by all the nations taking part in the summit, was read out today at the Conference of Parties (CoP) Plenary session which said it was an "urgent duty to respond" to global warming.
This can be termed as as one of the main outcomes of the ongoing crucial summit on climate change.

India had pushed for inclusion of sustainable lifestyle with minimum carbon footprint and a clear cut mention of flow of funds in the draft of the political proclamation which was earlier made.

Dave said that while the proclamation talks about providing USD 100 billion, it has also used the word sustainable development in it.
"We, the Developed Country Parties, reaffirm our USD 100 billion mobilisation goal," the proclamation said.
"Despite being held after Paris, this CoP has been successful in moving ahead on its track. There were many attempts to drag it for various reasons. That did not happen and it moved forward on its track.

In the proclamation, nations while welcoming the Paris
Agreement, its rapid entry into force, ambitious goals, inclusive nature and its reflection of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, also affirmed their commitment for its full implementation.
"We, Heads of State, government, and delegations, gathered in Marrakech for the high-level segment of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change...Issue this proclamation to signal a shift towards a new era of implementation and action on climate and sustainable development," the proclamation said.
The proclamation also said that nations who are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, encourage the ratification of the Doha Amendment.

This point in the proclamation assumes significance especially as India had asked the developed countries to ratify the Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol by April next year to raise the ambition of climate actions in the pre-2020 period.
The proclamation also called for an increase in the "volume, flow and access" to finance for climate projects, alongside improved capacity and technology, including from developed to developing countries.
During his recent statement in the high-level segment of the summit, Dave had noted that access to adequate finance remains an "overriding concern" for India.
He had asserted that it is "critical" that developed countries provide finance and technology transfer support to developing nations.

"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond. We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority.
"...We call for strong solidarity with those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and underscore the need to support efforts aimed to enhance their adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability," the proclamation said.
The countries in the proclamation said that their task now is to rapidly build on that momentum, together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to foster adaptation efforts, thereby benefiting and supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.

"We call for urgently raising ambition and strengthening cooperation amongst ourselves to close the gap between current emissions trajectories and the pathway needed to meet the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement," the proclamation said.
The proclamation also called for nations to strengthen and support efforts to eradicate poverty, ensure food security and to take stringent action to deal with climate change challenges in agriculture.