climate regime

7/29/2019 climate regime

1/21

Unit 8

Climate Regime fromIndian Perspective

Objectives

After completion of this unit, the students will be aware of the

following topics:

Assessment of Current Climate Regime

Major Climate Policies and Contributions to International Discussion

Major Concerns on Current and Future Climate Regime

Priorities for Restructuring Climate Regime

Introduction

India, being the worlds 2nd most thickly settled nation with a

pullulating middle- and high-income population with

progressively energy-intensive life-styles, has substantial

influence on global energy consumption and thereby greenhouse gases emissions. For instance, the relatively rapid

economic and energy growth rates subsequently the 1990s

(6-7 percent per year) led to a surge in electric power

demand (8percent per year). India is also the home to more

than 250 million individual living on less than US$ one per

day and about 550 million individual without access to

electricity. India occupies 2.4 percent of the worlds

geographical area, supports nearly 17 percent of its

population, and emits less than 5 percent (4.4 percent in

1998) of green house gases emissions (Table 8.1). Green

house gases emissions per capita in India are, thus, very low

(a fifth of the world average), around 1.3 tons carbon dioxide

equivalent as against 20-30 tons in developed nations.

Despite such low per capita emissions, India ranks fifth in

total emissions after the Russia, United States of America,

China, and Japan.

Of all green house gases, carbon dioxide emissions were the

largest and the energy sector contributed most (Figure 8.1).

After enhancing steadily for at least two decades, Indias

1UNIT 1Introduction to Port and ShippingNotes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


2/21

energy, power, and carbon intensities started to decline

quickly after 1995, due to factors like enhanced share of

service sector in the gross domestic product, and energy

efficiency enhancements.

Table 8.1: Key Statistics for India

2

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

IT Applications in Port and Shipping


3/21

Sources: UNFCCC (2005g), World Bank (2005), IEA (2005)

This shift proposes the start of an uncoupling of the energy

and economic development, as has historically happened inindustrialised nations at higher per capita income levels.


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


4/21

Assuming sustained economic development and extended

dependence on domestic coal reserves, Business-as usual

(BAU) projections propose a rapid rise in green house gases

emissions, with the energy- and forestry-related carbon

emissions totalling to at least 688 and twenty-nine million

tons respectively in 2030.

Figure 8.1: Distribution of Green House Gases Emissions

from India In 1994

Source: UNPCCC, 2005g.

Another study projected that carbon emissions would

enhance by 2.9 percent from 2001 yearly to reach 500

million metric tones of carbon (1,834 MMt carbon dioxide) in

2025 (even with such enhances, projections by ten models

suggest that Indias green house gases emissions would

largely be within the range of six-eight percent of worldwide

emissions still in 2100.

8.1 Assessment of Current Climate Regime

In this section, we will study the progress to date in this

regime the global challenges and the national challenges.

Progress to date

Players mentioned that advancement was essential in

developing road map and institutionalized setting, but dismal

in actual execution, particularly with regard to progress in

green house gases emission diminutions by Annex I nations,

and in the shift of technologies and financial help to

4

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________



5/21

developing nations. The Kyoto Protocol is viewed a small but

important step in the right direction to mitigate global

climate change. Institutionalisation of market-established

mechanisms like the CDM was also considered positively.

Global challenges

The global challenges are as follows:

1. Trust building challenge: In order to restore faith

between formulated and developing nations and ascertain

stabilisation of the climate, it was noted that Annex I

nations should fulfil their green house gases emissions

diminution commitments under the Kyoto Protocol andthat Annex I nations which have not ratified the Kyoto

Protocol should make meaningful domestic approaches.

Some participants noted that it is nearly impossible to

persuade India to control the growth of emissions if Annex

I nations fail to achieve their emissions diminution

commitments. Several participants expressed frustration

that some industrialized nations have not initiated any

essential action to fulfil the promises of returning to their

1990 levels of emissions by 2012. For example, the

enhancement in green house gases emissions ofdeveloped nations during the 1990s was nearly as much

as Indias total emissions. IEA projections indicate that the

aggregate carbon dioxide emissions of developed nations

will continue to enhance over the next 3 decades, despite

their responsibilities under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto

Protocol.

2. Compliance challenge: Few players aroused the

problem of abidance as a dispute, as they found that

current authorities does not define distinctly if and howpunishments for non-conformity will be imposed by the

end of the 1st commitment period.

3. Communication challenge: Conveying the correct

selective information to civil society so that all divisions

can take part proactively is looked at a major dispute. It

was noted that in democratic societies as if India, it is

often unmanageable to carry the public to bear short-term

monetary value or inconveniences in pursuit of achieving

long-term benefits like green house gases mitigation. It isimportant, therefore, to raise public know-how and


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

ices 22


6/21

realising of the co-benefits of climate approaches. While

corresponding with the significance of raising know-how,

some players noted that we should be cautious not to

sensationalize climate information which may mislead the

public. Capturing the attention of political leaders and

creating conditions that prompt the growth of leadership

are considered paramount.

4. Technology challenge: Growth and preparation of

climate-favourable techs are considered a major dispute

as very few instances of productive transfer of

technologies to developing nations were described in the

Annex I Domestic Communications.

Preserving the spirit of Kyoto in the future regime discussions

by turning the issues of global climate change into

opportunities, and building a road map by defining

deliverables at each step of implementation of the climate

regime are two other challenges.

National Challenges

The national challenges are as follows:

1. High dependence on coal and fuel wood: Empoweredwith big coal reserves (judged to be 234 billion tones in

2002); India has an energy system of rules that is

extremely carbon intensive. Indias dependency on coal,

which meets fifty-two percent of its commercial energy

needs, is probably to continue in the near future. Indias

coal production grew to more than 328 million tones in

2001/02 making the nation the third-largest producer

after China and the United States of America. How to

utilize these natural resources in a sustainable way

without raising emissions substantially remains a major

challenge. In add-on, large amounts of traditional biomass

resources consumed for the energy needs of the vast

rural population are exerting pressures on forests and

village woodlots. Hither once more, how to encounter

energy needs without important rises in green house

gases emissions remains a major challenge.

2. Adaptation challenge: India is powerfully referred about

the adaptation to global climate change because its

economy is heavily reliant on climate-sensitive sectors. As

6

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________



7/21

sixty-five percent of Indian agriculture is depending on

rainfall, whatsoever negative effects on H2O availableness

because of glacier retreat, decreased rainfall and

enhanced flooding in certain pockets would threaten food

security. Swaminathan and Sinha (estimated that a 2oC

enhance in mean air temperature could decrease rice

yield by about 0.75 ton/hectare. Parikh and Kumar) stated

that a 2oC rise temperature and an accompanying

precipitation change of +7 percent could reduce farm

level net revenue by 9 percent. Global climate change can

exacerbate the drought effects in 150 of the nations

poorest districts, where it is a perennial feature. In the

absence of protection, a one-meter low lying rise could

displace 7 million individual and submerge 500,000

hectares of land (UNFCCC, 2005g). How to enhance the

adaptive capacity of both the individual and the

ecosystems is thus a big challenge.

3. Capacity challenge: Bettering human being and

institutionalized capacity to measure benefits and costs

of, and to formulate adaptation approaches to, global

climate change is taken as exception.

8.2 Major Climate Policies and Contributions to

International Discussion

Being a growing nation, India has no responsibilities to

reduce green house gases emissions under the UNFCCC.

India initiated a number of approaches and measures for the

adaptation and mitigation to global climate change. In 2000

alone, energy approaches concentrated carbon emissions

growth by 18 MMtabout 6 percent of Indias gross energy-related carbon emissions. Although, as Indian industry is still

highly energy-intensifier equated to formulate nations, there

is considerable room for enhancement.

India ratified the UNFCCC on tenth June 1992 plus signed it

on 1st November 1993. It assented to the Kyoto Protocol on

twenty-sixth August 2002 and entertained Conference of

Parties 8 in Oct 2002, when the Delhi Declaration on Global

climate change and Sustainable Development were adopted

to give an impetus to global discussions on adaptation later

on. It submitted the 1st Domestic Communication in 2004.


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


8/21

While there has been some apprehension on Indias

participation in the recently announced Asia-Pacific

Partnership on Clean Growth and Climate, many participants

maintained that India is entrusted to the global regime

constituted by the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. Indias

extensive experience with Activities Implemented Jointly and

Global Environmental Facility projects helped the nation to

take a proactive role in initiating CDM projects. Insofar as

scientific research is concerned, Indian scientists played a

key role in global efforts, like the Global Observing System,

World Climate Programme, and the International Geosphere-

Biosphere Programme.

8.3 Major Concerns on Current and Future

Climate Regime

Developmental and economic concerns

The United Nations Development Programme places India at

advanced level of medium human development, ranking

127 on the listing of 183 nations (UNDP, 2005a). The

overruling priorities of India, thus, are economic growth (with

a target gross domestic product growth rate of 8 percent and

the doubling of the per capita income by 2012), poverty

alleviation to accomplish ten percent diminusion by 2012 and

provision of basic human needs to its population. Attaining

these priorities will need an essential enhancement in energy

economic consumption, both at the micro and the levels, and

incidental boost in green house gases emissions. Addressing

global problems like global climate change while continuing

to develop is a major concern in India.

India is powerfully referred about energy protection, as itconfronts serious energy shortfalls. India is highly dependent

on coal, and it has just 0.8 percent of the worlds experienced

oil and natural gas resources. The World Energy Outlook

designs that Indias dependence on oil imports will grow to

91.6 percent by the year 2020 A few players remarked that

the current high fuel prices in terms of PPP are serving as

an automatic check for keeping down expelling in India.

Assuming an energy growth rate of 5 percent per year, the

demand from power sector will enhance from 120,000 MW to

about 400,000 MW in 2030. At that time, the power

8

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________



9/21

generated from coal-based power plants would enhance from

the existing 67,000 MW to 200,0000 MW, which in turn

would require important build-up of thermal power plants

and large scale expansion of coal areas with important

significances for green house gases emissions. How to give

rise to energy from the coal sector with minimal green house

gases emissions is, hence, a major issue.

India made appreciable attempts in pushing renewable

energy the effect on date is however low as these

technologies are still high-priced. The most recent national

energy outlook predicted that it would be unmanageable for

renewable energy to exceed 3 percent of the total energyissue. Concern on ways to make these renewable energy

technologies low-priced to Indian society was conveyed.

The concerns on Indias energy protection led to a

discussion on its stance on mitigation commitments. few

players contended against the relevancy of such footing as

large developing nations and key emitters in reckoning

the future green house gases emission diminusion

commitments, and noted that indirect pressure from

Annex I nations was totally unjustified and would notpositively contribute to the discussions on the next

regimen. They mentioned that cap and trade emission

trading is not necessarily appropriate for nations like India

in the future regime. Murthy et al. For instance, reported

that a 30 percent carbon dioxide diminusion over a period

of thirty years can lead to a come in the gross domestic

product by 4 percent and an enhancement in the number of

poor by 17.5 percent in the thirtieth year. Westskog and

Kallbekken described that the efficiency gains obtained by

participating in emissions trading cannot offset theeconomic risks incurred by taking on binding commitments.

Others insisted that developed nations should first fulfil

their own commitments before requiring developing nations

to take such commitments.

Equity-related concerns

Few players noticed that climate change was predominately

because of the technological revolution and the use of fossil

fuels by modernized nations for the accomplishment of

their current stages of successfulness, and that


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


10/21

underdeveloped nations, like India, have not importantly

contributed to the issue, even though the latter would be

the most affected due to its low adaptive capacity. As India

passes off less than 5 percent of the worlds green house

gases emissions but has 17 percent of its population,

and currently 57 percent of its population do not have

access to electricity, several participants felt that it is

premature for India to take any legally-binding green house

gases emissions diminution commitments. Although, some

participants argued for India making realistic progress in

reducing its emissions growth trends so that it could be a

positive signal to global community.

Figure 8.2: CO2 Emissions per GDP Using Purchasing

Power Parities in Selected Countries

A concern was its involvement regarding the criticism from

Annex I nations that India is not doing sufficiently in the

green house gases mitigation efforts. Some participants

noted that such criticism is both unwarranted and unfair, as

the carbon dioxide intensity of gross domestic product at

Purchasing Power Parity in India is much lower than that of

OECD and world averages and some developed nations

(Figure 8.2).

Market mechanisms-related concerns

Players mentioned a speedy change in thinking of the

Indian policy-manufacturers and industry leaders

considering the CDM from comprising excessively negative

to excessively affirmative. India is at present a contributing

nation in the CDM, as more than hundred projects worth

more than US$ two billion were approved and more are in

the pipeline to be approved by the domestic CDM authority.

Although, participants conveyed concern that only seven

10

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


orld

OECD


11/21

out of 107 projects were recorded by the CDM Executive

Board as of one Nov 2005 and that most projects developed

to date are unilateral. Of the seven projects approved by

the Clean Development EB, 3 are one-sided. Hence, some

considered that the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol was not

maintained.

A couple of players admonished against impossible

anticipations on the CDM in concern with technological and

financial transfers and prompted that the CDM would at

best meet only four-fifteen percent of the gap in the worlds

demand for CER, which understands to 275 to 885 mt

carbon dioxide eq. per year. They noted that the realconcern was to examine how far developed nations would

indeed be forthcoming in relation to the apportionment of

the cost of emission moderation standards taken in

developing nations. Several issues were raised on the slow

and composite Clean Development approval processes

which were similar to those noted in the domestic approach

study on the Clean Development execution.

Few players conveyed concerns that the Clean

Development did not importantly enhance the conveyanceof technologies or finance as primitively envisioned at the

time of developing the Clean Development. Others were

pertained about the high transaction costs because of the

extremely complex policies of the Clean Development

approval and execution process, long lead times, low price

of CERs, and cut down demand for CER, especially due to

the withdrawal of the United States of America from the

Kyoto Protocol and the existence of Russian and East

European hot air. Fear was also raised on the relatively

low share of Clean Development projects with sustainablegrowth benefits as against a large share of projects, like

landfill methane recovery, and decomposition of

hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) and nitrous oxide. Some

participants raised concern that there is a very limited

Clean Development market, especially for small-scale

projects. Many participants strongly argued against utilising

current ODA for Clean Development. A few participants

noted the need for an organised inquiry on why the Clean

Development did not fulfil expectations on sustainable

growth and technology transfer.


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


12/21

Some experts indicated, although, that India is in the

process of discovering market-based mechanisms and that

it should acquire as much benefit from the Clean

Development as possible while following the standards of

the game precisely. Major opportunities include demand-

and supply-side efficiency measures, fuel switching from

coal to gas, afforestation, and power transmission

enhancements. Over the next decade, 120 million tons of

carbon mitigation could be approached at a cost of $0-15

per ton avoided (Chandler et al., 2002).

Technology development and transfer-related

concerns

Players mentioned that very elite instances of productive

transfer of technologies were described in Annex I Domestic

communications, and that information networks and

capacity-building were often included under technology

transfer. It was noticed that critical technologies which can

have important impact on de-carbonization have been out of

reach of developing nations as of both prohibitive costs and

the existing IPR regime. India has a coal-based energy

construction and is expected to predominately use coal in itsenergy mix over the next 100 years; hence clean coal

technologies and the production of energy through

integrated gasification and combined cycle route are very

significant.

Even though the promotion of renewable energy is one pillar

of Indian mitigation approaches, renewable energy has

limitations in terms of technology and cost. These

observations led to an argument that technology growth and

transfer relating to clean coal technologies and renewable

energy technologies were critical for Indias mitigation

efforts.

A concern viewing limited pattern on nuclear energy between

developed and underdeveloped nations was also aroused. As

the present regime does not adequately address growth and

transfer of climate-friendly technologies, some participants

opined that pacts, like the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean

Energy and Development which targets to cover a broad

range of technologies (clean coal, IGCC, energy efficiency

12

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________



13/21

Carbon Capture and Storage, civil and nuclear energies,

Combined Heat and Power, etc.) would be practicable.

Adaptation-related concerns

India is extremely compromising to the affects of global

climate change, therefore, adaptation is a essential problem.

The majority of the Indian population (agricultural, coastal

fishing and forest-dwelling communities) is susceptible to

shifts in weather systems and ecosystems resulting from

global climate change. Diminishing water resources due to

changing climate was another point of concern.

Contempt such extreme point exposure, explore on theexposure of India is very determined, and the few subsisting

studies focus almost exclusively on coastal zones and

agriculture. A concern was aroused with respect to the lack of

focus on impacts and doubt in forecastings of local and sub-

domestic impacts. Some participants emphasised that

adaptation approaches should be established on the sound

science of vulnerability judgment and raised a concern that

very few instances of impacts of global climate change from

Asia in general, and India in particular, are available in IPCC

reports to date.

Firm concerns were carried about inadequate financial

resources, weak institutionalized mechanisms, the lack of

research on adaptation problems, and the failure to integrate

adaptation concerns in growth planning in India. Participants

noted, for instance, that water resource growth plans for the

next 50 years do not discuss the impacts of global climate

change at all, even though it is well-known that global

climate change is already negatively influencing monsoons,

water flow in rivers, and groundwater recharge.

Financing-related concerns

A concern was elicited that climate-related support under

current regime is both unequal and irregular. For instance, it

was mentioned that against the pledge of US$ 2.75 billion,

GEF allocation during the second replenishment period was

only about US$ 648 million. Only 7.2 percent of bilateral ODA

was targeted for global climate change-related activities.

Balancing publicly-funded Research and Development with


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


14/21

private sector investment funds is looked at a major dispute

to deal climate problems in the future regime.

Capacity Concerns

The support for climate-related actions in India is small

exclusively a fraction equated with many nations of the

industrialised domain. Accordingly, the number of global

climate change investigators and psychoanalysts in India is

much smaller than in the developed nations. Even though

452 researchers were involved in the preparation of the

initial domestic communication, very few of them are working

on global climate change continuously. Policy research on

global climate change is very limited. Some participants

noted that there are very few studies on the potential

impacts on the economy of controlling green house gases

emissions growth by 3 or 5 percent, compared to the BAU

scenario.

8.4 Priorities for Restructuring Climate Regime

Indian participants identified a few options for strengthening

the future climate regime (Table 8.2).Market-based mechanisms

Most participants argued that: (a) the Kyoto process and its

flexibility mechanisms should gain further momentum in the

future regime, (b) the nations which ratified the Kyoto

Protocol should make use of the CDM more proactively, and

(c) the nations which have not ratified it should initiate CDM-

like mechanisms.

Structural reforms to the current CDM process attracted

major attention in consultations. Many participants notedthat current CDM approval process, which is complex with

high transaction costs, should be streamlined through

suitable reforms of the CDM Executive Board. Participants

underscored the importance of assurances on: (a) continuity

of CDM beyond 2012, and (b) delaying the registration

deadline beyond December 2005 for projects hoping to count

CERs from activities initiated since 2000. Expanding the

scope of the CDM to encompass sector-based or policy-based

CDM was considered especially desirable, as India has many

opportunities for energy efficiency enhancement.

14

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________



15/21

Table 8.2 Options for Strengthening the Climate Regime

beyond 2012 from India

As sector-based CDM would allow the growth of projects

without pre-set limitations in terms of the territorial coverage

or enabling instruments, it is considered as an evolutionarystep through which developing nations like India can enhance

their participation in the regime. There was also an opinion,

although, that sectoral baseline setting might lead to

capping, and that the CDM should be limited to a project-

based strategy due to enormous technical difficulties in

setting sectoral baselines. Moreover promotion of one-sided

CDM in the future regime was also considered useful, as such

projects may entail relatively lower transaction costs due to

project developers not requiring protracted negotiations for

emissions diminution purchase agreements.


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


16/21

Technology development, dissemination and

diffusion

Many players mentioned the necessitate for dealing critical

climate-favourable technologies as global public goods and

proposed that reconstituting the IPR regime by the lines of

strategies taken to combat HIV/AIDS could be a way forward.

One of the alternatives advised was to place clean

technologies under limited public domain and specify the

extent of patent security for such technologies especially in

developing nations. Another option could be to set up a

mechanism for the purchase of patent rights of certain

technologies through a global technology acquisition fund.While developing nations would not be needed to pay any

license fees for such technologies, the patent holder could

continue to receive license fees for their use in industrialised

nations.

Other strategies for technology transfer (e.g., shared

international IPR along the lines of agricultural technologies

by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural

Research, compulsory licensing which modifies the

government to grant a license to a domestic manufacturer ofa technology who in turn agrees to pay royalties to the

patent holder, and bilateral negotiation along the lines of

Merck Agreement and Costa Rica on biodiversity may also be

relevant for future regime discussions. Established on the

notice that the major global mechanisms, like CDM, GEF, and

Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) have not even succeeded

in promoting dissemination of decarbonisation technologies

to developing nations, participants noted the need for

adaptive research and growth at domestic level and

enhanced funding at global level, especially for energyefficient technologies, through the set up of a clean

technology acquisition fund or a global technology venture

capital fund.

Although the Indian parliament enacted the Energy

Conservation Act 2000, allowing for the efficient use and

energy conservation, participants noted that current energy

efficiency in major Indian industries was only around 32-33

percent and that increasing it to 40 percent could reduce

green house gases emissions growth considerably. For

16

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________



17/21

instance, Schumacher and Sathaye established that energy

savings of up to 38percent could be approached in Indias

cement industry through investments in energy efficiency

technologies for existing and new plants. Similarly, Chandler

reported that demand- and Supply-side measurements alone

could avoid forty five million tons of carbon discharges.

Participants felt that regional agreements like the Asia-Pacific

Partnership on Clean Development and Climate could be

complementary to engineering preparation attempts under

the future climate authorities.

Adaptation

Players overwhelmingly supported the debate for making

more robust future climate authorities to address adaptation.

Believing the information that the research capacity on

vulnerability and adaptation in India was limited and that no

practical instances of adaptation measures in Asia were

reported yet in IPCC reports, participants noted that the

future regime discussions should facilitate measures for

toughening research capacity on adaptation. This is

especially relevant as doubt about the local impacts of global

climate change is a major bottleneck for planning reserveadaptation approaches. Many players underscored the

importance of mainstreaming adaptation in natural resource

management and commended that future regime model

should give boulevard for treatments on such options.

Disgruntled with current global mechanisms for funding

adaptation, players distinguished that the flexibility of GEF

guidelines should be bettered in the future regime, so that

GEF funds could be used for enhancing coping capacities at

the local level. Some players recognized the need for tackling

adaptation outside voluntary agreements, possibly through

the design of an adaptation protocol if essential, with well-

defined commitments. Although, some participants queried

the suitability of adaptation for designing a separate protocol

and stressed that it is not necessary to create it from scratch,

as there were other windows of opportunities. Likewise, some

participants advised caution in utilising the market-based

mechanisms (vouchers, credits, etc.) for facilitating

adaptation in the future regime, as they recognised that

adaptation and mitigation are not alike. The need for utilising


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


18/21

global insurance funds to accompaniment adaptation in

future regime was also recognised.

Capacity-building

Capacity-building towards planning coherent data reporting

initialises for green house gases inventory, collecting data for

formal and informal sectors of the economic system, and

guiding detailed and fresh measurements of Indian emission

coefficients was considered crucial. Capacity building in

scientific assessment of the impacts of global climate change

and potential adaptation approaches, especially in water

resources sector, were also considered vital.

Other issues

Players mentioned that the succeeding government must be

compromising sufficiency to punctually suit domestic

considerations (for example., alleviation, coal-based energy

mix, need for poverty, high fuel prices in terms of Purchasing

Power Parity, energy shortage, in India). The need for

creating a better incentive structure in the future regime was

also emphasised as a way towards global participation and

for more effective involvement of developing nations. As aninstance, the idea of a pledge and brush up with help

strategy was presented. The idea is that reflecting national

interests, priorities and capacity, a developing nation would

announce its pledge for containing green house gases

emissions development. If a nation is able to fulfil its

commitments, more funds for adaptation and climate-friendly

technologies are furnished. The provision of help can create

inducements for accomplishing commitments, although such

commitments are purely pledges and not binding. The

participation of the United States of America in a globalframework was also pointed out as an incentive for India to

take on commitments in future.

Future climate regimen should target to bridge a number of

existing gaps in the current regime in India. They include

participation gap (gaps in the ability of negotiators and civil

society between developed and developing nations);

relevance gap (relevance of various policy instruments to suit

national circumstances) and resource gap (gap between

needs and available resources); perceptual experience gap(gaps in understanding of problems including differential

18

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________



19/21

obligation, capacity and commitment); and, policy culture

gap (gaps in approaches targeted at green house gases

adaptation and mitigation).

8.5 Student Activity

Search the technology development and transfer-related

concerns in the recent decade in India.

8.6 Summary

India plays a important role in the problem of global climate

change not only as a rapidly developing country with growing

Green House Gases emissions, and as a nation most probably

to experience the negative effects of global climate change,

but also through intellectual contributions to the global

debate. Although, from a national perspective, India is yet to

develop a coherent position on global climate change and

appropriate approaches for global negotiations perhaps

because the global climate change debate in India is still

hedged by several uncertainties on local effects, and costs of

adaptation and mitigation initiatives.

Indian policy-makers are urged to pursue approaches that

take advantage of synergies between climate protection and

the overriding growth priorities to simultaneously advance

both. In this connection, India should be an active and

decisive partner in climate negotiations through focussing on

approaches, like the CDM and other innovative mechanisms

that will limit Green House Gases emissions and at the same

time help achieve sustainable growth. As India is also the

home to several millions of vulnerable communities and

about 550 million individual without access to reliable

modern energy services, Indian negotiators must ascertain

that the future regime would empower and enable them to

respond to global climate change and its effects

appropriately.

8.7 Keywords

Business-as usual: It proposes a rapid rise in green house

gases emissions.


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________


20/21

Participation gap: Gaps in the ability of negotiators and

civil society between developed and developing nations.

Relevance gap: Relevance of various policy instruments to

suit national circumstances.

Resource gap: Gap between needs and available resources.

Perceptual experience gap: Gaps in understanding of

problems including differential obligation, capacity and

commitment.

Policy culture gap: Gaps in approaches targeted at green

house gases adaptation and mitigation.

8.8 Review Questions

1. Evaluate the current climate regime.

2. Highlight the features of the major climate policies and

contributions to international discussion.

3. Discuss the major concerns on current and future climate

regime.

4. Describe the priorities for restructuring climate regime.

8.9 Further Readings

Books

Alan E. Boyle, Land-based Sources of Marine Pollution:

Current Legal Regime, Marine Policy, Vol.16, 1992.

Louis Sohn, The Stockholm Declaration on Human

Environment, Harvard International Law Journal, Vol. 14,

1973.

IPCC, 2006: IPCC Guidelines for national greenhouse gas

inventories. Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Global

climate change, Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge. accessed 02/07/07.

Web Readings

http://enviroscope.iges.or.jp/modules/envirolib/upload/169/att

ach/03_india.pdf

20

Notes

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.htmhttp://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.htmhttp://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.htmhttp://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.htm


21/21

www.esd-asiapacific.com/fasid/kp/beyond.html


___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

Documents

climate regime