India's inputs retained in new climate change accord draft

India has expressed satisfaction with the first draft of the climate change accord released here with the new document retaining all its inputs as negotiators made "some progress" in hammering out a deal.

"At the moment this is a shorter draft but everything which we (India) got inserted is still there. It's five pages shorter," India's key negotiator Ajay Mathur said at the UN climate conference.

He said French President Francois Hollande has spoken of "urgency" of moving ahead in resolving issues and India will continue to work together to get closer to an agreement.

Following three days of hectic parleys over a complex 54-page draft pact, negotiators released a document five pages shorter but still there was reportedly no agreement on about 250 undecided options across the text.

This is the more or less the same text which was released in the Bonn conference, officials said.

India also sought global support for bringing down the cost of renewable power to reduce reliance on coal.

Elaborating on the process in talks, Mathur said the negotiation text as evolved by the various discussion groups would be consolidated and handed over to the presidency who will then create spin off groups on various unresolved issues that will then be the focus of negotiations.

"We are encouraged that on fourth day, we had some progress. We agree with the presidency that we need to move ahead. There is a huge amount of work in progress which we hope will move towards a greater degree of competition before the presidency takes over the text and starts discussion. We are pleased with fact that progress has been made," he said yesterday.

Climate Action Network International, consortium of NGOs across the world working on climate change, said the new draft is shorter by five pages than the previous version as options have been condensed and streamlined across different issues.

Raman Mehta of the Vasudha Foundation, which is a member of the consortium, said that there were nations who are saying that the current paradigm of differentiation has outlived its use and are asking to replace it with the concept of total symmetry.

"This is unfair and it doesn't acknowledge the many serious differences that remain between nations. Delegates could create an equitable new paradigm on differentiation, but that framework has yet to be constructed," Mehta said.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would continue to press developed countries to recognise their responsibility to take the lead, while urging developing countries to do more in line with their growing capabilities.


Ban said the world's leading economies must deliver on their promise to raise USD 100 billion for climate financing by 2020.

"There is no perfect agreement. But our goal is clear: an agreement that truly addresses climate change, and puts the world on track for long-term prosperity, stability and peace. That is what the days ahead in Paris can and must deliver," he asserted.

"In the global economy, the transition to a low-emissions future is well under way. In the negotiating room, there is still a lot of work to do. Key issues remain unresolved, and there is not much time left," Ban said.

Mehta of the Vasudha Foundation said, "The issue of differentiation links tightly to finance—especially the question of who provides finance in a post-2020 world. Finance would allow countries like India to quickly scale up their commitments and move fast towards renewable energy."

He said India has pledged to install 300-350 GW of renewables by 2030, but might be able do that by 2025 or 2020 if finance was provided and with the development of renewables is accelerated India's need to expand coal would drop,” he said.

Targeted over its plan to expand coal usage for energy generation, India has sought international support to bring down the cost of electricity from renewable energy to make sure that a large part of power generation in the country comes from this sector.

"Since yesterday, there have been a large number of comments on our renewable energy ambition. We want to make sure renewables provide an increasing amount of electricity. As the electricity sector grows, we want that a larger fraction of that growth comes from renewables," Mathur said yesterday.

"What we would like, as soon as possible, the cost of electricity from renewable becomes less than cost of electricity from coal. There is a concerted effort to bring the prices down. We also look forward to international support to bring prices down further," he said.

"We are looking at partnership and International Solar Alliance (ISA) is one such example which helps us move in that direction. We would be willing to take pole position in trying to see how we can enhance the fraction of RE (Renewable Energy) in our grid," Mathur said.

On being repeatedly asked if India's plan on coal usage for energy generation was affecting the negotiations in any way, Mathur said it was not the case.

Developing countries need money and technology to make the switch to clean energy sources like solar and wind power. They are also asking for money to adapt to climate change.

The developed countries are willing to help but reluctant to make firm commitments as negotiators from over 190 nations look to negotiate a post-2020 deal to curb emissions and limit global temperature rise.