NewDelhi, Thursday, 02 February 2012: Noting that per capita emission in developed countries is 10 to 12 times that of those in developing countries, Prime Minister ManmohanSingh today said there appears to be a “lack of will” in the global community to tackle the problem of climate change.

“…it is necessary to recognise that currently there appears to be a lack of collective global will to address this problem with the seriousness it deserves,” he said at a function here.

The need for equity, he said, is starkly reflected in the fact that the emissions per capita in the “industrialised countries are 10 to 12 times that of those in developing countries”.

In this regard, he referred to the principles of UN framework convention on climate change which provide the basis of creating a workable framework based on a broad-based equitable and multi-lateral response to issues relating to climate change.

Stressing on the need for a broad-based cooperation from developed as well as developing countries to address the issue, he said, “That cooperation must be based on the foundation of the right to development and the need for an equitable distribution of burden sharing”.

The Prime Minister said solving the problem should be in a way that it does not “deprive developing countries of their right to development”, adding India which is in the frontlines of climate vulnerability, has a vital stake in the evolution of a successful response to climate change.

Observing that the Durban Climate Conference did achieve some important gains, the Prime Minister said the agreement reached there on the 2ndCommitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol is a significant achievement because there were doubts at one time about whether any accord could be reached.

“I am glad that an agreement was reached. We cannot make progress in this difficult area if we allow the commitments of the past to be unravelled,” he said.

Singh said that in the ensuing negotiations, the country needs to focus on the substantive nature of arrangements, based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities, more than their legal shape.

“As we go forward, we will need to make progress on all the four pillars of cooperative action that were agreed at Bali namely, mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and development and provision of financial resources and investment,” he said.

The Prime Minister said there should be action in all these areas as part of a coherent and organic response to the problem of climate change.
“In that sense the Durban Platform must build on the Bali Action Plan,” he said.

Bali Action Plan launched a new, comprehensive process to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action.

Maintaining India will play a constructive role in the ongoing negotiations, Singh said, “We will seek to reduce the emissions intensity of our GDP by 20-25 percent by the year 2020 taking 2005 as the reference level.”

The Prime Minister said the Government was planning to build a strategy for the Twelfth Five Year Plan and it will be designed to ensure significant benefits for climate along with inclusive sustainable growth.

Singh also said food and energy security and sustainable use of scarce natural resources will constitute important constituents of the country’s strategy for sustainable development.
(News agency)