The Paris accord aims at cutting down emissions of greenhouse gases and restricting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius
Hours after 197 countries adopted the rulebook to implement the Paris climate agreement at the 24th annual climate talks of the United Nations in Poland, India termed the outcome "positive". India asserted it engaged in the negotiations "constructively" while protecting the country's key interests.
The Paris accord aims at cutting down emissions of greenhouse gases and restricting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
"India considers the outcome of COP-24 a positive one which addresses concerns of all parties and sets us on the path towards successful implementation of the Paris Agreement," an official statement said.
Among the key highlights of the rulebook is the requirement for all countries to follow to a set of norms to measure and report their emissions, mitigation efforts, especially with regards to developing countries and a call for scaling up efforts to cut down greenhouse gas emissions before the talks in 2020.
India, however, registered its reservation during the concluding plenary on the issue of global stocktake. "India has reservations to the draft decision related to Article 14, matters relating to the global stocktake as per Part P of the draft decisions. However, in the constructive spirit and to ensure that the process moves forward, we will be allowing the decision to be adopted and express our reservations after that and submit it to the secretariat also in writing," Ravi Shankar Prasad, country's lead negotiator said.
Global stocktake refers to the five-yearly assessment of collective progress towards achieving goals of keeping global temperature rise in check. This has to be done to check if the nationally determined actions of countries are on track to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement. Observers said that India's reservations stem from the lack of stress on equity and differentiated responsibilities on the output side of global stocktake.
Harjeet Singh, Global Lead on Climate Change at ActionAid International said the rulebook is a step forward but there are loopholes on the issue of finance as loans and guarantees can be counted as financial assistance. "The climate crisis simply cannot be fixed without financing. It's hugely frustrating to see a Paris rulebook that goes backwards on delivering real finance and real action."
The final text of the rulebook does not clearly define what will constitute as finance that the rich countries are to provide as part of their commitment to raise US$100 billion each year by 2020. In addition, the rulebook allowed inclusion of all financial instruments such as concessional loans, grants, aids from public and private sectors to meet this commitment. The Centre for Science and Environment termed this as a major dilution of the rule book.
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