Question : KYOTO PROTOCOL ON CLIMATE CHANGE

(a) the salient features/concepts of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and the stand of the Government thereon;

(b) whether the Government has taken any initiatives to convince other countries/developed countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the details of the action plan formulated by the Government on climate change ?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)

(a) to (d) The statement is laid on the table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO parts (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 82, RAISED BY DR. RATNA DE (NAG) DUE ON 12/08/2013 REGARDING KYOTO PROTOCOL ON CLIMATE CHANGE.

(a) The Kyoto Protocol (KP) was adopted in 1997 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in order to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission. The Protocol considered six greenhouse gases-(i) carbon dioxide (CO2) (ii) methane (CH4) (iii) nitrous oxide (N20), (iv) hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) (v) perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and (vi) sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and agreed to an average of 5.2 per cent reductions in GHG emissions from 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The Protocol sets legally binding targets for 37 developed nations and the European Community and introduced three flexible mechanisms- International Emissions Trading (IET), Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to help the Annex-I countries to meet their emission reduction targets effectively. The Protocol came into force in 2005 and the first commitment period of 5 years, starting in 2008, was ended on December 31, 2012. In 2012 UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Doha, Parties agreed for the second commitment period from 2013 to 2020 and committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels. A new greenhouse gas, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) was added in the second commitment period. Three major countries Canada, Japan and Russian Federation have withdrawn from the second commitment period (2013-2020) of the Kyoto Protocol.

Government of India (GOI) has signed the Protocol in 1997 and ratified it on August 2002. As a signatory to KP, GOI has set up the Designated National Authority (DNA) to initiate the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in the country and strongly favors the continuation of the Protocol into the second commitment period.

(b) and (c) Recognizing that climate change is a global challenge, India engage actively in the multilateral negotiations. Under climate change negotiations, India is guided by the principles of Equity and the Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR), thereby the developed country parties must take deep and ambitious targets for emission reduction in the second commitment period (post 2012) of the Kyoto Protocol. All actions of other developing country parties are contingent on the implementation of the obligations and commitments of the developed Parties under the UNFCCC Convention and Kyoto Protocol. A new agreement for climate change is to be adopted in 2015 in the form of an agreement, Protocol or agreed outcome with legal force. India is actively participating in these discussions for combating climate change.

(d) To address the challenges of climate change, the Government of India has released the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008 with eight missions namely (i) National Solar Mission (ii) National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (iii) National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (iv) National Water Mission (v) National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (vi) Green India Mission (vii) National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture and (viii) National Mission for Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change. These missions are implemented by the respective Ministries on the basis of detailed plans that are approved by the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change. Further, the Government has encouraged the States to prepare State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) in order to address the adverse effects of climate change at the State level.