Marking a shift from its earlier position of staying within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changes,India now appears ready to collaborate with various countries on climate change. On top of the list are the US,China and Japan. In a bid to present itself as a leader on climate change issues in the SAARC region,India is set to sign a treaty on environment with SAARC countries,the draft text of which is ready,The Indian Express has learnt. India has also discussed the possibility of a bilateral co-operation with Japan on thermal technology which cuts down on greenhouse gases. Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh met Japanese Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa on Monday on the issue. SAARC Environment Ministers are at present in New Delhi. On Tuesday,the SAARC delegates are expected to release a joint environmental statement. Ministry officials said the cooperation will chiefly be in the regions of forestry,biodiversity and wildlife and coastal management. Ramesh,speaking to The Indian Express,indicated that India needed to look beyond the Kyoto Protocol. India has multiple messages to give on climate change,and India cannot be Doctor No, he said. We are engaging with China,Japan and the US on climate change. This includes,he said,being open to the discussion of a bilateral with Japan on climate change technologies. The focus is on reducing greenhouse gases through better coal-based thermal power technologies. We are discussing with Japan coal-based power generation with less greenhouse gases. Japan is helping us with that. In yet another shift,India seems set to be a donor in the issue of tackling climate change. It will give one-time grants for forestry and coastal management,Ramesh said. We are looking at assuming a prominent role for climate change and environment in South Asia. The draft for a new environment agreement is also ready from Indias side. The crux will be technology and financial transfer. Climate change is becoming a very important issue for SAARC,the theme of the April 2010 SAARC meet at Thimpu will be climate change. We are making one time grants of one million dollars to the SAARC forestry Centre,Thimpu,and one million dollars to SAARC Coastal Management Zone,Maldives., he said. On a bilateral agreement with the US,Ramesh said: We are open to it. The PM will discuss this with US President Barack Obama next month. The discussions are likely to be on energy security.
