India hosted the ‘Climate Change: Technology Development and Transfer’ meet on October 22 and 23 in New Delhi to advance the discussions on technology development and technology transfer started at the Beijing High Level Conference in November 2008.

With emphasis on defining a road map for technology development and transfer by key players in the international climate change community, the conference was meant to support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on a successful outcome of the Copenhagen Summit in December.

The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed was the Guest of Honour. A high level ministerial session and panel sessions addressed the relevant options and proposals.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressing the conference said, “India wanted an environmental pact that sets emission limits for nations on a per capita basis”. The 1997 treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, which set reduction targets for a limited number of countries, expires in three years.

Maldives President Mr. Mohamed Nasheed talked about the possibility of his Indian Ocean nation of low-lying atolls vanishing under the sea this century and wanted the matter to be viewed with global concern.

“If you actually think this is a Maldives issue you cannot be so wrong. India, taking its place as a world power, should lead other nations in renewable energy. The Copenhagen talks are crucial for achieving binding agreements on limiting greenhouse gas emissions”, the Maldives President said.

“This is not a Maldives issue. The Maldives simply is in the front line. From the front line we’re trying to tell the others that if this is happening to the Maldives today it’s going to happen to you tomorrow.” Nasheed made an analogy to Poland once being on the front lines of Nazi aggression.

As part of its effort towards ushering in a low carbon economy, Maldives recently signed an agreement to build a 75MW wind farm which will power its capital Mali, the international airport, and 24 luxury tourist resorts. This project will cut CO2 emissions by 25 percent. It is due to be operational in 20 months.

Nasheed in an article published in The Guardian of UK, asked the question, “If a small developing country can make this rapid shift to renewables, there can be little excuse for richer nations to drag their feet. Copenhagen is a moment of necessity. We must agree a credible, long-term deal that is fair and equitable. One that merely protects the interests of the rich will tell the world that the leaders of 2009 lacked the political will and moral conviction to help those whose lives will be blighted by climate change”.

Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who is India’s chief climate negotiator, called up all concerned to give up the nation that the upcoming climate change summit is never a North-South clash between industrialized and developing nations. “It is not as bad as you think that we are sort of divided in two camps,” he said. “After all if we are, we would not be sitting across the table and negotiating. We are all trying together to find solutions.”

India’s Strategy

India’s priority is not only reducing global emissions as quickly as possible but also accessing adaptation technologies to cope with the inevitable impacts of climate change, which will include rising sea levels, more frequent and intense cyclones and water scarcity.

Technology access will depend on partnerships between developing and developed countries, built on well-defined intellectual property rights. Under the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ as supported by India, the developed world would be called up to support technology transfer regardless of whether rapidly developing economies such as China or India themselves commit to reducing emissions.

Rather than committing emissions limits before 2020, India may offer its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) to be part of a global package of commitments. India will firmly reject having the NAPCC subjected to verification measures, though annual international reporting is not resented.

Meanwhile, India and China on 22 October signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) in New Delhi to establish partnership and strengthen dialogue and practical cooperation. Signed by Xie Xhenhua, vice-chairman, National Development and Reform Commission of China, and the Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, at a workshop on National Action Plans on Climate Change of the two countries, the MoA was a prelude to both countries cooperating at the talks in Copenhagen. Despite their differences, the two neighbours are unanimous in opposing carbon-emission limits proposed by industrialized nations.