UN to rework Paris draft after protest by developing world
NEW DELHI: Climate negotiations in Bonn got off to a rocky start on Monday with India and other developing countries opposing the first draft for a landmark climate deal to be signed in Paris in December, terming the text an example of “climate apartheid”.
The session at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change headquarters is the last formal discussion before the meeting of 196 countries in Paris to sign a pact to curb global warming.
Negotiators from developing countries — who are concerned the draft aims to push the responsibility of fighting climate change to them — sought a fresh text for Paris discussions.
They also feel the draft fails to raise climate finance commitments from rich nations and there is concern about the year by when global emissions will peak which can have developmental implications for countries such as India.
“We want a total overhaul of the lop-sided draft which does not meet the aspirations of the developing world and climate vulnerability,” said a climate negotiator from a developing country.
Many countries have also accused the co-chairs of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Durban Platform, the official name for the committee to frame the text of the new deal, of trying to re-write the basic principles of differentiation and equity enshrined in the UN Climate Convention. They also accused them of bias, negotiators who are monitoring the climate talks, said.
The new deal, the negotiators from the developing world said, cannot turn the bedrock of convention upside town. “The differentiation of action between the rich and the developing world cannot be undone by the new deal,” the negotiator said.
The first draft will change dramatically and the co-chairs will have to present a re-worked draft by Tuesday.