India To Be Pro-Active In Enhancing Energy Efficiency: Govt

New Delhi: India will be pro-active in enhancing energy efficiency and expanding renewable energy in the fight against climate change, government told Parliament today while giving details of its role in a recent UN-led global meet on the issue.Making a suo-moto statement in Lok Sabha on UN Climate Conference held in Peruvian capital Lima this month, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said there were efforts by some developed countries to undermine the basic tenants of the UN Convention.

"The recognition that all elements need to be addressed in a balanced manner is a key outcome of the Conference as there were efforts by some developed countries to undermine the basic tenants of the Convention," the Minister said.

Javadekar said the key focus of the current negotiations were finalization of elements of the draft negotiating text for 2015 Paris Agreement in view of the Durban (COP 2011) decision to finalize "a protocol, another legal agreement or an agreed outcome with legal force," applicable to all, by December.

He said India was guided by the vision of the Government and Cabinet mandate and "our stand in the negotiations was also guided by the principle of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities," which is the bedrock principle of the UNFCCC.

"The Conference decided that the new agreement will be under the Convention and will reflect the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities in the light of different national circumstances.

"It was also agreed that the new agreement will address all elements that is mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and transparency of action and support in a balanced manner," Javadekar said.

Javadekar said some Parties were endeavoring to impose an ex-ante assessment of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in the process. It meant that the INDCs would be mitigation centric and that after countries submit their INDCs, these would be aggregated to ascertain whether the sum total of contributions is adequate to achieve the global goal of containing temperature rise to below 2 degree Celsius by the end of the century from pre-industrial levels, he said.

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