2 min readDurbanDec 12, 2011 01:38 AM IST
First published on: Dec 12, 2011 at 01:38 AM IST
UN climate negotiators today struck a compromise deal on a roadmap for an accord that will,for the first time,legally force all major carbon emitters to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
While the new pact,to be finalised till 2015,will for the first time bring India and China under a legal mechanism guiding emission cuts,the accord will go into effect only from 2020. The formula was worked out after negotiations that ran 36 hours beyond schedule. Talks on the new deal will begin next year when the Kyoto Protocol expires.
Under the compromise,while India and China agreed to bring themselves under a governing treaty,the developed nations agreed to a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol. The protocol remains the only legally binding treaty for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. China and India have been exempt because they are developing countries,while the US has opted out.
During the conference,the EU had pushed hard for a roadmap to a new,legally binding treaty against resistance from India and China. Am I to write a blank cheque and sign away the livelihood of 1.2 billion Indians,without even knowing what the EU roadmap contains? asked Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan.
The final text of the Durban conference said parties would develop a protocol,another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force,averting the use of legally binding.
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