India was voice of developing countries at Lima Conference, says Javadekar

Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said that the recently held Climate Change Conference, which was held in the Peruvian capital Lima, decided that the needs of all nations need to be addressed in a balanced manner, adding that India played an active role in representing the voice of the developing countries.

"India was able to play an active role in representing the interest of developing countries by constructive cooperation with like-minded developing countries and effective and persuasive presentation of its national position," Javadekar said, while giving a suo-motu statement in the Lok Sabha.

"The conference decided that the new agreement will be under the convention and will reflect the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in light of different national circumstances. It was also agreed that the new agreement will address all elements that is mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and transparency of action and support in a balanced manner," he added.

Javadekar further stated that the conference had decided to not allow member nations to not back out of pledges given.

"It was decided that countries should not backslide from current pledges. This is especially relevant in view of the action of some countries, which had gone back on their Kyoto Protocol commitments," he said.

"The Lima Conference agreed that the contribution of countries has to be more than their current commitments," he added.

The minister further stated that it was decided that developed countries will provide and mobilise enhanced financial support to developing country parties for ambitious mitigation and adaptation action.

"The Green Climate Fund has been set up and over USD 10 billion have already been pledged to it. However, the goal of mobilising USD 100 billion per year by 2020 is still a far cry," he said.

"It was also decided to urge contributors to confirm pledges in the form of fully executed contribution agreements taking note of the fact that at least 50 percent of pledges made till November, 2014 should be reflected as fully executed contribution agreements by 30th April, 2015," he added.

Javadekar also said that many countries appreciated India's aggressive efforts on climate change under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Climate Change Conference of Parties, which falls under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol were this year held in Lima, with Javadekar representing India.