Copenhagen climate summit had ended on Saturday. There was no deal that all the 192 countries had agreed on. There is now something called a "Copenhagen Accord', hurriedly hammered out by the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa late on Friday night. It is a political accord in the sense that it sets out non-binding goals, leaving industrialised and industrialising countries to voluntarily implement them. Brazil negotiator Sergio Serra summed up the mood in the summit succinctly when he said, "Certain groups like G-77 are not happy when a few people make decisions. It's not an inclusive exercise.
Perhaps it can't be." The challenge is now to make this document acceptable to the rest of the world, especially the island states and the poorest African statesThe only hopeful note in all this is that Copenhagen is just a beginning, and the process of arriving at an agreement that will be acceptable is years away.
What does it mean for India? There is solace that it is part of the small group that was responsible for the document, however unsatisfactory, that will now stand as the contentious achievement of a failed summit. India is also now an insider in the global councils which reflects the country's new-found economic and political clout. It is in the big league for good. No major global decisions can now be taken without India contributing to it. More importantly, India stood its ground on the issue of not accepting legally-binding emission controls. Did India succeed in its other ambition of being a deal-maker and not a deal-breaker? Perhaps it could. The unofficial accord could serve as a framework for a solution at the Mexico summit due next year. There has been neither a breakdown nor a stalemate as it had happened in the case of the Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks.
Given the inherent problems of the climate change issue, and the conflicting interests of all the countries — developed and developing, rich and poor, big and small — a smooth and positive outcome at Copenhagen was not to be expected. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh was right when he hinted even before the summit that it will be necessary to look beyond Copenhagen. The clash of views that resounded in Copenhagen should not be seen as mere dissonance but a vibrant note of global democracy. The voices of the small and poor countries had to be heard as much as that of US president Barack Obama.
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