Gujrals Support To Cwealth Paper Weakens Indian Position At Kyoto
Prime minister I K Gujral endorsing the Commonwealth communique on reduction of the greenhouse gases has considerably weakened Indias position in the climate change negotiations beginning at Kyoto from December 1.
The communique to which India is now a party was issued from Edinburgh on October 31. Talking about the environment, it said after Kyoto, all countries will need to play their part by pursuing policies that would result in significant reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions if they are to solve a global problem.
Critics have strongly objected to Gujral signing the communique which they say amounts to signing on dotted lines. They say it is still a moot point whether the developing countries need to bring down their emission levels because their contribution to the accumulation of the green house gases ( mainly carbon di-oxide) is merely 20 per cent as against 80 per cent by the developed countries ( 25 per cent by the US alone since this will affect upon their . On the other hand, it is the developed ).
So, if the emission levels are to be brought down significantly it should be the job of the industrialised countries, they point out adding that this is also the spirit of the Rio earth summit of 1992, of which the Kyoto meet is the follow up.
Anil Agarwal, director of Centre for Science and Environment, wonders why Gujral should have made India and the developing countries party to this kind of a commitment at a time when negotiations are yet to commence at Kyoto. Agarwal feels Gujral has fallen prey to western machinations.
Industry also has reacted strongly. The view in the CII which has 3,400-member companies on its roll, is that Gujrals endorsement is a negation of the principle of polluters to pay.
In the present case, the polluters are the industrialised nations.
It is they who have emitted carbon di-oxide, nitrous oxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons far in excess of what their combined sink ( forest, sea) could absorb. It is admitted that developing countries too need to reduce their emission levels, but, first, it is debatable if emissions from these countries are in excess of their own sinks, and second, how to solve the problem of supply of clean technology and fund availability.
Gujral has made the faux pas, interestingly, at a time when these are precisely the issues the Indian delegation is required to thrash out at the forthcoming Kyoto meet.