Pak backs Indias climate change stand

Ahead of United Nations climate change negotiations coming up in Copenhagen in December,Indias stand that developing countries should not be forced to take binding emission cuts has found an unlikely ally: Pakistan. Its chief climate change negotiator Farukkh Iqbal Khan met Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi on Saturday and offered full support to Indias position. Khan is director in the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

We fully support Indias position on climate change as we support any stand which is similar to our own. We have to share notes with India on climate change mitigation in fields like forestry. India and Pakistan can work together and there is scope for bilateral cooperation. Pakistan has made a commitment that it will take verifiable,measurable cuts to combat climate change, Khan told The Sunday Express.

Forestry,and not emission cuts,is one of Indias main planks to combat climate change. Indias Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation Plus proposal,one that asks for monetary rewards for planting more forests,is pending with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC.

But we strongly believe that developing countries cant take any emission cuts, Khan said,echoing Indias stand. He said long-term measures to mitigate climate change in Pakistan were still at a premature stage.

Khan also said the SAARC developing countries should have more dialogue in order to develop a united voice on climate change in the run-up to the Copenhagen summit. He said the Pakistan Environment Minister would be visiting India on October 19 and 20 for a conference of SAARC environment ministers.