India offically endorses COP15; International treaty remains elusive

Today, India’s government  stated that it will move beyond merely ‘supporting’ the Copenhagen Accord and onto full endorsement of the agreements that took place last December—but not without some conditions.  Prior, India’s officials publicly stated that while they ‘supported’ the Accord, there was a distinction between ‘supporting’ and being fully 'associated'.  The Accord calls for leading nations to reduce their greenhouse emissions to the extent that it will prevent temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial era and for the world to raise $100 billion by 2020 to curb climate change.

Environmental Minister Jairam Ramesh relayed the Indian government's three stipulations.  Ramesh asserted that the Accord must only be considered political, and not legally binding, that it was not outside the UNFCCC framework which still aims at a unilateral legal agreement, and finally that the Accord will only function to bring countries on the right track to a UNFCCC resolution.  

"We believe that our decision to be listed reflects the role India played in giving shape to the Copenhagen Accord. This will strengthen our negotiating position on climate change."

India’s decision to be formally associated with the Copenhagen Accord left the Russian Federation as the only major greenhouse emitter yet to fully endorse the Accord.   China signed on just hours after India committed, negating anticipated political pressure it would have received.  However, the conditions continue to sour for the possibility of reaching a binding UNFCCC legal agreement this year. With Yvo De Boer’s resignation, he has admitted doubts that reaching a global compromise will not likley occur at the COP16 in Mexico City.  Many officials agree that a more realistic timeframe would occur during next year's COP17 summit in South Africa.  The UN continues to search for a new Executive Secretary for the UNFCCC to replace De Boer.  But perhaps the greatest roadblock for the international agreement is the continually faltering climate bill in the US Senate.

Further complications have arisen in US politics as Senators determined to protect economy of their fossil-fuel rich states have called for a bill that would prevent the EPA from regulating fossil fuel emissions—US President Obama pledged he would use the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas if the climate bill stalled out in the Senate.  In response, the EPA denounced the Senator's plans as detrimental to the future of the US economy, and believes halting greenhouse regulation will hinder green investors from moving into the United States.  And as a result, the US would lag woefully behind in the green energy boom.

In any case, the seemingly endless debate continues in the Senate and the world's major economies seem to await the passage of a US climate bill before designing an international bill.  German chancellor Angela Merkel and Danish Minister and COP15 planner Connie Hedegaard both believe that the possibility of reaching the oft-sought legally binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol this year continues to fade.  This is a departure from previous statements.  Before, each stuck to the official UN stance that an agreement could occur this December in Mexico City.

Michael Good | Climate Action

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Kecko | Flickr