Climate talks head for final phase, India promises positivity

Negotiators are confident that a deal will be reached before the next weekend and they will be able to avert a repeat of the 2009 Copenhagen summit

Environment Ministers from across the globe will strive this week to transform a draft that has conflicting proposals into a concrete climate pact to cap greenhouse gas emissions amid India's assertion that it is going for the high-stakes talks with positivity.

The 48-page draft, that still contains all the unresolved options on the key issues at stake, will form the basis on which ministers from across the globe, including Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, will try to formulate a binding deal.

As the 12-day climate talks enter its final week with the ministerial talks starting tomorrow, negotiators appeared confident that some kind of deal will be reached before the next weekend and they will be able to avert a repeat of the 2009 Copenhagen summit -- that failed miserably.

Analysts said any deal emerging from Paris is likely to fall short of what is needed to cap global warming at 2.0 degrees Celsius or below.

Javadekar, who will arrive in Paris for the crucial phase of talks tomorrow, said, "India is going more pro-actively, with more positivity and instead of opposing which was earlier position of India, we are now proposing. Like India initiated the Solar Alliance. India became partner of Mission Innovation. We will be proposing many new things. They are on the cards."

"India is looking positively to the final outcome from Paris and India will be flexible and show the world that though India is not part of the problem, still is facilitator for the solution," Javadekar said.

He said the need of the hour is that the developed world "must walk the talk, must come out with more ambitious numbers for their pre-2020 commitment" and come out with a separate subhead to their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), as today's INDCs of developed world subsumes their pre-2020 targets.

Asked about India being vilified for blocking progress at the talks, Javadekar told an Indian TV channel, "Let me tell you, many people describe India as the third largest emitter. It is sequentially wrong and it is content wise also wrong. I have rephrased it, sequentially we are four but we are small emitters."

Talking about the current emission status, Javadekar said, "China (is at) 29%, US is second with 16%, Europe third with 10% and India at fourth with 5% emission. First three put together 56% and we are 5%. We are one-tenth of the first three," he said.