‘Won’t accept legally binding emission cuts’

Days before the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit,India on Tuesday reiterated that it would not accept a legally binding emission cut as part of any international agreement. “This is written in stone; this is cast in stone. This remains a fundamental non-negotiable for me personally; it remains the non-negotiable for all of us who are entrusted with the responsibility of negotiating the international agreement. India,under no circumstances,will take on legally-binding emission cuts,which we believe is the obligation of the developed countries,including the US,” Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while replying to the Calling Attention motion on ‘government’s changing position on climate change’.

“India must negotiate from a position of leadership and not negotiate from a position of defensiveness. We have nothing to feel defensive about,” Ramesh said.

The minister added that his only purpose had been to “open up windows of flexibility for India because the world is changing” and “different countries are taking different positions”.

“Brazil has announced emission cuts; South Korea has announced emission cuts; Indonesia has announced cuts. And,my whole purpose is that India should not be isolated. That is my whole objective that the finger-pointing game should not start and the blame should not be put on India’s door,” he said.