Question : CLIMATE CHANGE

(a) the details of the International treaties/agreements regarding climate change to which India is a signatory;

(b) the details of the commitments made before the international community and the achievements made so far;

(c) whether the Government has recently reviewed its policies on climate change and is likely to sign agreements on reducing greenhouse gas with some countries and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the strategy formulated for the international climate negotiations along with the fresh initiatives proposed to be taken to strengthen India`s response to climate change?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a) India is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005.

(b) There is no legally binding commitment for India under the UNFCCC till date. India has been actively engaged in the multilateral negotiations under the UNFCCC. The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was released on June 30, 2008 to outline India’s strategy to meet the challenge of Climate Change. It has eight Missions in specific areas of Solar Energy, Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system, Green India, Sustainable Agriculture and Strategic knowledge for Climate Change, which addresses both mitigation and adaptation components of climate change.

(c) The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change monitors and reviews the mandate and the activities under the 8 missions. No agreement has been signed on reducing greenhouse gas with any country.

(d) The new climate change agreement has to be under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Developed countries should take the lead in combating climate change as per their mandate under the Convention. All the elements inter alia, mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and transparency of action and support, have to be treated in a balanced and comprehensive manner in the new climate change agreement.

In the context of pre-2020 ambitions, under the Ad Hoc Working on Durban Platform for Enhanced Actions (ADP), the developed countries have been urged to ratify the 2nd commitment period of Kyoto Protocol (KP) and revisit their targets in 2014. India has been coordinating with the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs) and the G-77 and China and BASIC (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) group of countries for protecting its own interest in the climate change negotiating fora under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).