From Mythili Sampathkumar
Lima, Dec 14 (PTI) Crucial UN climate talks, already into extra time, today remained deadlocked as the developing countries rejected the compromise outline after the US and China clashed over the draft text of the envisioned global climate deal.
Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal, who is presiding over the talks, is currently meeting with the negotiators separately to discuss in detail their “red lines” and points of possible compromise on the draft text.
The negotiators from more than 190 countries, who have been in the Peruvian capital for about two weeks, have so far failed to reach a consensus on the formula of sharing the burden for cutting emissions, and who should pay.
Earlier, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar delivered India’s statement, saying a “balanced approach” in the draft text was required to make sure polluting countries pay and not the poorest countries.
He said that what the like-minded developing countries, least developed countries and the Africa group are saying “must be appreciated” because they are all “speaking their heart”.
Javadekar said India supports the genuine concerns of these groups. The country will cooperate with the COP presidency in order to sort out any issues “in a balanced manner”, he added.
India stuck to the consistent position that all the elements of adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology, and capacity building should be included in the intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs).
Meanwhile, the US warned that the failure in arriving at an agreement may doom the envisioned global pact to be signed in Paris next year.
Todd Stern, US’ Special Envoy on Climate Change said, “All we have achieved so far will be at risk, and all that we hope to achieve will be at risk as well… The text is not good but we are running out of time.”
Failing to produce the decision before us will be seen as a serious breakdown, which could put the Paris agreement and the entire UN process at risk, Stern said.
Stern said that though no parties were perfectly happy with the text, they need to take into account that the success of this year and next year are at stake and that parties should not “let the perfect be the enemy of the good here in Lima.”
China said it supported the objections raised by the developing countries on the inadequately expressed concept of differentiation between the developed and developing countries in the draft text.
“The differences are very considerable, we have two points of view which are opposed,” said China’s Liu Zhenmin.
“We have deadlock,” he told the conference. China sided with Malaysia and other developing countries that rejected the draft.
The EU and Singapore joined the US in supporting this morning’s draft.
The EU said the text is not congruent with what they wanted and some of the views are “weakly expressed” but accepted the draft text in an effort to move forward.
The talks, which were scheduled to end yesterday but ran into the 13th day as the standoff continued, aims to establish the draft text of a new agreement that will be adopted by all countries at the next major talks in Paris in 2015 and take effect by 2020.
The current draft of the text regarding the intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) is mitigation- centric once again.
Developed countries are not ready to make financial or technology sharing commitments and so the financial portion of the current draft is weaker than previous versions.
There is also no reference to the loss and damage provision for which least developed countries and small island developing states have been pushing.
Also absent is any reference to common but differentiated responsibility or long-term financial commitments.
