Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar has said India is committed to play its part in the global fight against climate change.
"We look forward to successful conclusion to the Lima COP. In fact, we hope that this COP will prove to be an exception to the rule and finish its work before on Friday 12th December itself!" he said in his address at the high-level segment of UNFCCC COP-20 at Lima.
Javadekar further said, "We hope to put in place in Lima, the stepping stones towards a post-2020 agreement under the Convention that is comprehensive, balanced, equitable and pragmatic."
"It should be able to address the genuine requirements of the developing countries by providing them equitable carbon space to achieve sustainable development and eradicate poverty," he added.
Asserting that the new agreement is under the Convention, Javadekar said: " Let us be clear, it is the 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol that is ending in 2020, not the Convention. Adherence to the principles and provisions of the Convention is the key."
"As India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the UN General Assembly in September this year, we should be honest in shouldering our responsibilities in meeting the challenges. The beautiful balance of collective action - the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities - should form the basis of continued action," he added.
The Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change further said it is equally evident that developing countries could do more if finance, technology support and capacity building is ensured.
"This must be a key focus of the new agreement," he added.
Javadekar said our ambition in the post-2020 period is directly linked with ambitious actions in the pre-2020 period by the developed countries, otherwise the poor people in developing countries will not get the carbon space to achieve sustainable development.
"If we believe that the global warming threat is real, then we must deliver on the agreed commitments as a matter of priority," he added.
Javadekar said it is important therefore for developed country parties to urgently fulfill their legal obligations in the pre-2020 period.
"They must scale up their mitigation ambition now and urgently fulfill their promises for providing financial and technological support to developing countries," Javadekar said.
"Some announcements have been made by some countries to contribute to the Green Climate Fund. However, the scale of these announcements remains far from what has been pledged," he added.
Asserting that adaptation is a central and critical priority for developing countries to address Climate Change, Javadekar said: "The new post-2020 agreement should ensure a balance between mitigation and adaptation. The urgent need for adaptation must be fully reflected in the new agreement."
Javadekar further talked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's '100 Smart Cities' project that has integrated policies for adaptation and mitigation to reduce the vulnerability and exposure of urban areas to climate change and also to improve their energy efficiency for which 1.2 billion US dollars have been allocated.
"We have put in place stringent norms for cement industry. Our Action Plan for cleaning one of the longest rivers in the world, River Ganga will bring multiple benefits of pollution reduction and climate adaptation. We have also taken initiatives for protecting coastal, Himalayan, and forest areas," said Javadekar.
"We have initiated preparations to develop a National Air Quality Index and have launched a National Air Quality Scheme," he added.
Talking of post-2020 period, Javadekar said that it is directly linked with ambitious actions in the pre-2020 period by the developed countries, otherwise the poor people in developing countries will not get the carbon space to achieve sustainable development.
"If we believe that the global warming threat is real, then we must deliver on the agreed commitments as a matter of priority," he said.
"It is important therefore for developed country parties to urgently fulfill their legal obligations in the pre-2020 period," he added.
He also urged the developed countries to scale up their mitigation ambition and urgently fulfill their promises for providing financial and technological support to developing countries.
