Summit useful in getting India, China to take action: Aus

I / Melbourne December 24, 2009, 16:22 IST

India and China have not only agreed to act to cut down emissions but are also willing to be accountable for their action, Australia's environment minister has said.

"When we went to Copenhagen, there was no agreement from China or India to do anything on climate change, nor to be accountable internationally for what they were doing," Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has said.

We now have agreement where by China and India are prepared to take action and are prepared to be accountable for it, Wong said. "The Indians are articulating a position that's their national position. We've made our position clear - we wanted more, we think what we got was a step forward and we are pleased that China and India have not only agreed to act, but are willing to be accountable for their action."

India has confirmed that it worked with China and other emerging nations to ensure that there were no legally binding targets from the global climate talks, Wong said.

Serious differences had emerged between India and Australia over the direction of talks at the Copenhagen climate meet, with environment minister Jairam Ramesh dubbing Canberra an "Ayatollah" for its one-track approach.

"Australia is sort of the Ayatollah of the single track," Ramesh had said. Wong was quoted saying by ABC report that she would have liked a stronger agreement, but she said it was still a positive outcome. She said aspects of the negotiations were frustrating, but has stopped short of criticising the India.