Climate Change Negotiations: India's submissions to the UNFCCC - A report by the MoEF

This document published by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), expresses India's views and position taken in the context of the international negotiations on climate change that took place following the Bali Action Plan adopted in 2007, followed by attempts at negotiations carried by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the light of the Copenhagen Summit in 2009.

The document highlights how India's stance on long term cooperative action emphasises:

• Equity, the right to development for all and eradication of poverty
• Identification of a target for climate change and definition of a time frame to measure this change
• Strict adherence to commitments and provisions of the convention by all countries
• Better responsibility taking by the developed nations.

The twelve papers included in this publication include the major submissions made by India on the relevant topics in the course of the negotiations during 2008 and 2009 and are listed below:

• Shared vision for long term cooperative action
• Measurable, reportable and verifiable mitigation actions of developed countries
• Measurable, reportable and verifiable mitigation actions of developing countries
• Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) of developing countries
• Reduced deforestation in developing countries (REDD), sustainable forest management (SFM), and afforestation and reforestation (A&R)
• Enhancing action on adaptation
• Financing architecture for meeting financial commitments under the UNFCCC
• Financing flows: Why financial contributions to the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC cannot be under the paradigm of “Aid” 41
• Technology transfer mechanism
• Amendment to the Kyoto protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under Article 3.9 of the protocol
• Land use, land use change & forestry (LULUCF)
• Improvements to emissions trading and project based mechanisms

Particularly relevant and important are India’s submissions on technology and forestry. On technology, India has presented a proposal to establish a mechanism for the development and transfer of technologies needed by developing countries for addressing climate change. On forestry, India has put forth an innovative proposal on forestry-related emissions, in which the emphasis is not only on reducing deforestation, but also on forest conservation, sustainable forestry management and enhancement of forest carbon stock.

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