Now that we are in the final leg of the climate change negotiations, what are India’s realistic expectations out of the Copenhagen Summit?

We remain optimistic that we would be able to achieve a comprehensive, balanced and above all, an equitable outcome at Copenhagen. We also need an ambitious outcome. That is why we expect that developed countries should sign on to at least 40 per cent reduction in their GHG emissions by 2020, with 1990 as the base year. There should also be an adequate financial package, which we have put at 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent of the GDP of developed countries. And this must be additional to the 0.7 per cent of GDP commitment they have already assumed for developmental assistance. Finally, we need a technology transfer arrangement, which will permit the most rapid and widespread dissemination of existing climate friendly technologies and create a global platform for collaboration on transformational technologies for the future.

How important is it for India to have a favourable agreement coming out of Copenhagen?

India has always put great emphasis on the creation of truly multilateral, rule-based international regimes which can safeguard the interests of developing countries. What we hope for is a global climate regime, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which provides a supportive environment for our own climate-change actions and enables us to scale up our efforts through international cooperation. It should be a regime that has development and poverty eradication in developing countries as the centre point.

... contd.