UN conference on climate change from today

Union Environment Minister T.R. Baalu will inaugurate the COP. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will inaugurate a high-level ministerial segment on October 30, on the last day of the negotiations, where the delegates will provide necessary political momentum for implementation of measures to meet consequences of climate change.

The Vigyan Bhavan will be the venue for all official meetings, while the India Habitat Centre will be the hub of NGO activities. An exhibition on India’s environment-friendly development is planned at Hotel Ashoka from October 28.

The UN Framework on Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), which forms the basis for global cooperation in climate change issues accepts that developing countries will be the worst affected by climate change.

At the end of the convention, a ‘‘Delhi Declaration’’ will be adopted to highlight the framework of action to be taken by both the developing and the developed countries in the next few years.

The Kyoto protocol which is a fall-out of the UN Convention on Climate Change is likely to be ratified by the end of this year, making it legally binding on all countries. Developed countries, according to the provisions of the document, are supposed to cut-down on their carbon levels by 5 per cent of the 1990 levels by 2012.

However, the US had walked out of the Kyoto protocol saying that countries like India and China should also take on commitments.

According to Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, ‘‘Developing countries have to be very careful and not take on any commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions unless the biggest pollutor, US comes on board.’’

Previous COP meets have concentrated on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. They have tried to sort out financial and institutional issues which will reduce the level of green house gas emissions.

The Government has prepared a draft which says that this Convention is going to focus on adaptation issues rather than mitigation to enable the developing countries to cope with the impacts of climate change in sectors like agriculture, human health and submergence of coastal areas.

The COP-8 will also review the implementation of commitments of various countries under the UNFCC and will fine tune the guidelines of new funds like a special adaptation fund.

An inter-governmental panel on climate change has estimated that the average earth temperature is likely to rise by 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees by 2001 and sea levels are likely to rise by 9 to 80 centimeters as a result of climate change.