Global deals on climate should address India's concerns:Survey

The two global deals on climate change and sustainable development to be finalised in 2015 should take into account India's development concerns and requirements, the Economic Survey said today.
While climate change and sustainability in India are being mainstreamed in the development process, global cooperation and additional funding are required because the country is constrained in its efforts as many needs are competing for a small amount of resources, it said.
Amid rising global temperature and emission, "there is immense pressure on governments to act through two new agreements on climate change and sustainable development, both which will be new global frameworks for action to be finalised next year", the survey said.

The new deals will now apply to all countries unlike earlier agreements -- Kyoto Protocol and Millennium Development
Goals. "It is important that any future agreement should fully take into account India's concerns and requirements," it said.
The survey suggested that developing countries should have the "discretion" to fulfil their goals in accordance with their national circumstances through a legally appropriate regime having binding force at national level.

There is a need to ensure that the principles of equity and CBDR (Common but Differentiated Responsibility) are embedded in the new deals, the survey said, adding: "The deals must ensure that developing countries be given their fair share of 'carbon' and 'development space".

It said the global targets for all countries to achieve sustainable development should be looked at in the context of historical, spatial and other dimensions.
Noting that the means of implementing the new deals would be a next big issue, the survey said, "Raising additional resources for sustainable development goals (SDFs)and non-capitalisation of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) are matter of serious concern and may threaten the credibility of the global negotiation process."
But the global community must stop taking solace in limited progress and move to decisive action. Sustainable development and low carbon trajectories and pathways, although challenging are "still feasible," it said.

The process of international environment treaty 'United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)' must gather momentum for securing the global public good as the progress so far made towards sustainable development "is uneven, insufficient and threatened by prospective future losses", it added.