India wants focus on adaptation, CBDR to tackle climate change

Ahead of UN Climate Conference, India on Monday made a strong pitch for focusing on adaptation and common but differentiated responsibilities as part of the new global order on climate change, saying it cannot ‘only be about mitigation and emission cuts'.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change is vital in order to respond to the impacts of climate change that are already happening, while at the same time preparing for the future.

Government will put up a Climate Change Adaptation Plan before the country, he said and also asked every state, district and city to bring out their own climate change adaptation plan.

". . . I have always put our country's views at all available global platform that the world wants to discuss only about mitigation.

“But we want to discuss along with mitigation, more on adaptation. Because we are at the receiving end.

"And to that end we are saying that the world must come forward by providing adequate finance, technology and adaptation and differentiated responsibilities must also become part of the new global order in climate change.

“It is not only about mitigation and emission cuts," the minister said.

Climate Change Mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases.

Inaugurating a national workshop on ‘Scaling up Good Practices for Climate Change Adaptation’ in New Delhi, Javadekar said India and its farming community is best in adaptation.

The minister stressed the need for giving more emphasis on adaptation as the world is ‘heading towards Conference of Parties at Lima, and ultimately in CoP in Paris in 2015, which will have the new regime of how we are dealing with climate change issue’.

The UNFCCC conference on Climate Change will be held in Lima, Peru from December 1 to 12.

Javadekar's statement assumes significance in the wake of the developed world particularly European Union seeking flexibility in CBDR -- a key principle in the climate change talks -- which says that the developed nations are more responsible in tackling the global warming as they are historical carbon emitters.

During her India visit in September, European Union Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard had said, "The way we so far discussed it . . . developed countries must commit others (developing nations), they can commit if they want to . . . We just need to adjust the way we talk about CBDR," she had told reporters in New Delhi.