Developed countries should compensate for emissions: India

Lima Peru Asserting that it has been a strong champion of equity India today said developed countries should compensate developing nations for the effects their greenhouse gas emissions have had on climateSusheel Kumar interim head of the Indian delegation said Indias goal on adaptation during the UN climate change summit talks here is for it to be there in the entire text We would also like a longterm global goal for adaptation to be clearly articulated in qualitative and quantitative terms Kumar said adding that for a developing country adaptation becomes a more immediate need than mitigation Ministeriallevel talks will begin next week which will be attended by Environment Minister Prakash Javedkar on December 7India has always been a strong champion for equity Kumar said India would like developed countries to compensate developing nations for the effects their emissions have had on climate India believes that developed countries should be held responsible for their high levels of emissions which have caused harm to developing countries like itselfThat responsibility should come in the form of compensation and a fair 2015 Paris agreement He explained that it is not equitable to talk about what a country is emitting now because that country could be currently reducing their emissions However Kumar said that fact does not absolve them ofall past sins He also referred to the German watchs Global Climate Risk Index 2015 a study measuring which countries suffer from the most extreme weatherrelated events based on data from19942013 as a way to quantify adaptationIndia ranks third behind the Philippines and Cambodia in vulnerability but the index does not take into account Indias much larger population compared to the other two countries Along with state climate action plans submitted by 29 states to the Parliament Kumar also mentioned the efforts of the government through the National Adaptation Fund the goalof which is to provide capacity building technology and financial support to domestic adaptation projectsIt is already the time for negative emissions from developed countries Kumar said during a meeting with thepress and civil society conference attendees Indias position is that no countrys right to development should be circumscribed and that the developingworld must carry a unified voice over the course of the Lima talks if there is any hope for an equitable agreement he assertedCurrently adaptation talks are progressing buttextbased negotiations have not begun as yet as countries are still trying to determine what they will put forth in their final papers Indias Intended Nationally Determined ContributionINDC will likely not be ready until June 2015The government plans to put forth a national plan lasting not less than 10 years but preferably 15 years India is opposed to any international review of its INDC before the end of specified timeline of 10 or 15 years That would take away the nationally determined part ofthe INDC concept Kumar said Meanwhile the World Meteorological Organisation WMO has declared 2014 as the hottest year on recordThe urgency in the conference halls in Lima was heightened by the WMO announcement as the overarching goal ofthe talks is to keep global warming to 2 degrees Celsius Land and sea global average temperatures as well as sea levels for the first ten months of this year are the highest ever recordedThe WMO claims are based on data gathered from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the UKs Met Office WMO SecretaryGeneral Michel Jarraud said in a statement that recordhigh greenhouse gas emissions and associated atmospheric concentrations are to blame for heat rainfall drought and devastating floods across the worldincluding in India in August and SeptemberJarraud explained that the majority of that heat is concentrated over the oceans especially in North America The data follows the trend of steadily increasing temperatures alongside increased burning of fossil fuels with WMO saying 14 of the 15 hottest years record are all in the 21st centuryEven as the US China and EU have announced emissions reductions targets the worlds third largest emitter India is yet to make a similar statement