All rich nations not compliant to $100 billion target

The Indian interlocutors who attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris said on Wednesday that all rich nations were not compliant to the target of raising $100 billion annually for the developing nations but hoped they meet their "moral obligation".

Minister for Forests, Environment and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said: "The Paris Agreement was a very successful accord to save the earth.

"It is an equitable deal which entrusts differential responsibilities - more responsibility on the richer nations and lesser on developing ones. The deal mentions that the developed nations shall provide $100 billion annually to the developing ones."

India was "happy that the deal was an equitable one", he said.

Amidst media reports that the US objected to the use of the term "shall reduce" while referring to emissions, Ravi Shankar Prasad, joint secretary in the environment ministry, said: "It is a play of words.

"The $100 billion target that rich nations have to raise annually is a target for all the developed nations, not individually.

"Each of the countries is not compliant to the target," Prasad told IANS on the sidelines of a press briefing by the ministry to elaborate on India's role at CoP 21.

He said the numbers were only a "representation of our (global) mission" to act against climate change.

Asked if India had a challenging path ahead in fighting climate change, Prasad told IANS: "India wants to change things. The road ahead is to change things in order to fight climate change."

Javadekar said at every step of the conference, India was "pro-active and positive".

"India's attitude at every level was that it will not oppose, but propose," he said, adding that India was not the "deal breaker" as it was perceived by the global stakeholders.

He said India had at least 20 bilateral meetings with other countries during the conference.

"India's approach was unlike what it was in Copenhagen where it changed its stand towards the end," he said.

In view of the recent flood havoc in Chennai, the terms "loss and damage" were anchored in the agreement to ensure that these situations can be tackled, he said.A

"India's development would be only on an environment-friendly path," Javadekar said. "I'm an eternal optimist, technology will bring greener solutions to the country."