India declines to take absolute emission reduction targets

October 7th, 2009 BANGKOK - Talks to finalise a climate treaty in time for December's Copenhagen summit are still stuck over key issues of the extent to which industrialised countries will reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and how much they will pay developing countries to deal with global warming, India's top climate negotiator said here Wednesday. As the Sep 28-Oct 9 preparatory talks here neared their final phase, Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Saran said: "There is no agreement on the most difficult issues - mitigation (of GHG emissions) and financing." "We need an early decision on significant (GHG) emission reduction targets during the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2013-2020), but there's virtually no progress." India and 36 other developing countries have proposed that industrialised countries -- which have emitted almost all the excess GHG that is leading to climate change -- reduce their emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020, compared to 1990.

October 6th, 2009 BANGKOK - The floods in south India that have killed at least 350 people and made millions homeless are a result of climate change, said an expert in the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. The sudden shift from "extreme drought" to "extreme floods" in the region was in consonance with the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), head of the climate centre Madeleen Helmer said here Tuesday.

September 28th, 2009 BANGKOK - India, China and Japan are now leading the world to reach a deal this December that will be effective in tackling climate change while EU and the US are proving major stumbling blocks, international NGO WWF has said. As delegates from 177 countries gathered here Monday for the start of a two-week preparatory meet for December's climate summit in Copenhagen, WWF applauded Japan, China and India for outlining concrete action to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases.

September 28th, 2009 BANGKOK - International NGO WWF is "worried about a mismatch between credible leadership in Asia and empty rhetoric in Europe and the US" on ways to tackle climate change. "While key Asian countries are offering concrete contributions to reach a deal in December, EU and US are emerging as major stumbling blocks." As delegates from 177 countries gathered here Monday for the start of a two-week preparatory meet for December's climate summit in Copenhagen, WWF applauded Japan, China and India for outlining concrete action to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases.

September 28th, 2009 BANGKOK - The penultimate round of negotiations in preparation for a global climate deal in Copenhagen this December started here Monday, with a fresh impetus given to the process by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the G20 summit last week. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva opened the two-week meeting, saying: The (UNGA) summit was able to renew our collective engagement on the issue of climate change at the very highest levels.

September 22nd, 2009 UNITED NATIONS - Asserting that India has not caused the climate change problem in any way, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said New Delhi will be part of the solution, but the outcome must be rooted in equity.

September 18th, 2009 LONDON - Indian plans to set numerical targets for curbing greenhouse gas emissions were described Friday as a breakthrough that challenges the US and other rich nations over climate change action. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told The Times of London legislation was being drafted to limit India's carbon footprint ahead of a UN climate change summit in Copenhagen December.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Seeking to underplay differences with India over climate change, the US says it is "encouraging" that both countries are committed to do whatever they can to reach an agreement on a new UN climate treaty at Copenhagen. "Well, I don't think so," Philip J.

July 11th, 2009 ON BOARD AIR INDIA ONE - India and China need to resist pressure from industrialised countries on the issue of climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday. The developed countries are by far the biggest polluters of the environment since the start of the Industrial Age.

July 10th, 2009 L'AQUILA - The developing countries criticised the G-8 nations for not taking enough steps to curb global warming, dubbing the proposed long-term targets as meaningless. he larger developing nations said they wanted to see more credible mid term targets than long-term ambitious targets.

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - Developed countries comprising the G8 are unwilling to commit themselves to reducing greenhouse gas emissions drastically by 2020, despite scientists across the world and developing countries urging them to do so. With the issue of climate change becoming significant during the G8-G5 summit here, especially in the run-up to the UN climate change summit to be held in Copenhagen this December, emerging economies of the G5 are exerting pressure on the G8 to commit to earlier targets on reducing emissions.

July 9th, 2009 L'AQUILA - The G8 or the world's most wealthy and developed countries have remained non-committal on setting targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, a demand being stressed by the emerging economies (G5) and other developing countries. Though the G8 and G5 came out with a joint declaration on various issues at this quake-hit Italian town, 100 km from Rome, the document neither set targets for reducing emissions nor any dateline.

June 11th, 2009 BONN - It will be "physically impossible" to have a detailed deal to tackle climate change by this December's summit in Copenhagen, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said here Wednesday. However, he hoped, the "Copenhagen (summit) will deliver clarity on key political issues in this debate, that there will be clarity on the extent industrialised countries will reduce their (GHG) emissions, and clarity on what major developing countries (including India) are willing to do to mitigate their emissions." He also hoped that there would be "clarity on financing developing countries" to help them mitigate their emissions and adapt to climate change, and that there would "clarity on the governance structure" to administer these funds.

June 9th, 2009 BONN - Officials from 182 countries Tuesday started their second reading of a draft global agreement to combat climate change, while delegates admitted in private and NGOs charged in public that no progress was being made. The negotiators gathered here to advance the draft stuck to their old positions, said Srinivas Krishnaswamy of the NGO Greenpeace India, with industrialised countries "offering very little beyond their old Kyoto Protocol commitments and developing countries saying nothing about the action they will take" to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG).

June 9th, 2009 BONN - Frustrated by the way governments are dragging their feet on combating climate change, leaders of green NGOs from around the world have come together to present the climate treaty they want to see inked at a global summit scheduled to be held in Denmark in December. The Copenhagen Climate Treaty, as they call it, will be presented to bureaucrats from over 180 countries meeting here (June 1-12) in an attempt to draft the official version of the treaty.