As the Marrakech Climate Talks -- hailed as the COP of action, comes to an end, Indian Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said that whatever issues India had to incorporate at the meet were agreed upon.
"It would be unjustified to have expectations from this COP on the lines of Paris Climate Talks, which was a mega event. But here all countries sat together and worked on the baseline of the implementation part, and more clarity would follow in the years to come with another one or two COPs," Dave told IANS here.
Believing that the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) was indeed the COP of action, the Minister said that whatever issues India had to incorporate were agreed.
Calling the Paris Agreement - a settled fact, the Minister said that India will move forward with its agenda of implementing the Paris Agreement and that almost 97 per cent of the existing laws in India are supportive, so not much amendments would be required.
The minister, while reiterating what India echoed at the high level segment here, said that India has raised the issue of mobilising the $100 billion climate funds from developed to developing countries to help them reduce their climate footprint.
He said the matter related to the finance (from developed countries) has to be taken forward and should be transparent, clear and straight.
"Sustainable development has also been included. Doha amendment is also part of it," he said.
Commenting on the Pre-2020 agenda, the minister said that the it should have gone further, much more could've been done and that the developing countries are with India on this issue.
"The way India is leading the developing countries and the way we are implementing and my experience from other countries, we are going on the right directions," he told IANS.
As per the Pre-2020 agenda, which was also agreed during Paris Agreement, it was agreed to keep the global warming due to emissions well below 1.5 degree Celsius as compared to the pre-industrial area.
Commenting on a difficult financial situation which might be created if the US President-elect Donald Trump reneges from the Paris Agreement, or pulls out of the entire convention (UNFCCC) to cut down the time for exit, the minster who believes in a "wait and watch" strategy, said that India will have to generate domestic resources anyway.
"There is no escaping when it comes to climate change, so we have to look into resources anyway. Whatever help would come from outside is ok and beside that we will have to generate resource. Like we are doing it by imposing cess on coal so we will tackle the situation as it is created," Dave told IANS.
Speaking with Indian media here, the Minister said that though there were many attempts to drag the COP for various reasons, it did not happen and the negotiations moved forward on its track.
"This I consider as a success of Marrakech. For us, we completed our ISA. We should not see this as a standalone. It has moved on the right track," he told the newsmen here.
The minister also pointed out that India now stands at 20th position at Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) against last year's 23.
The COP22 is being held at Marrakech, Morocco and is building up on the negotiations held at last conference in Paris at COP21. Hailed at COP of actions, not much could have been done, especially on the finance section and the agriculture where developing countries have their reservations and concerns over food security.
(Kushagra Dixit is in Marrakech at the invitation of TERI to cover COP22. He can be contacted at kushagra.d@ians.in)
--IANS
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