PM panel readies Bali strategy

The Prime Minister's Council on Climate held its second meeting here on Monday to give shape to a national agenda...

The Prime Minister8217;s Council on Climate held its second meeting here on Monday to give shape to a national agenda for dealing with climate change, ahead of a crucial meeting in Bali, Indonesia, next month which will discuss the future global strategy to tackle the issue.

The meeting of the PM8217;s council discussed a report prepared by Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister R Chidambaram on a possible roadmap for India to counter effects of climate change.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s media advisor Sanjay Baru told The Indian Express that the council members made several suggestions to improve the report and it was decided that the 21-member council should hold another meeting soon.

With just one week to go before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali from December 3 to 14, India is in the process of finalising its negotiating strategy at the meet.

The two-week meet in Bali, which will include the 13th session of the Conference of Parties, or COP13 as it is called, will discuss a future framework on climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocol which is set to expire in 2012.

India has ruled out any emission cut targets for developing countries even in the post-Kyoto framework and this is expected to be the central argument in the country8217;s negotiating strategy at Bali.

Chairman of the Nobel Prize winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC R K Pachauri, who is a member of the PM8217;s council, was also of the view that developing countries need not agree to undertake emission commitments.

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8220;I see no reason why the developing countries would like to succumb to the pressure from the developed world to take emission cuts,8221; Pachauri told reporters here.

However, he was of the opinion that the developing countries should slowly but surely move towards cleaner technologies and try to reduce their emissions on their own.

8220;We should be doing this for our local reasons not because under any global compulsions,8221; he said.

Pachauri said the record of the developed countries in fulfilling their emission targets as mandated in the Kyoto Protocol was far from satisfactory.

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8220;But because there is unprecedented public awareness about the issue, there would be sharp focus on each country delegation at the Bali meeting and the postures that they adopt. I have a feeling that the tough stance that some developed countries have taken will loosen under this public gaze,8221; he said.

He said he had a very optimistic outlook for the Bali meeting and hoped that it would come out with some positive development like agreement on a future roadmap.