124
4 Climate Mitigation and India’s Commitment to Global Community
that several platforms for brainstorming and to evolve ways for their protection were
established and effective measures were taken by many countries to conserve their
biological resources. Eventually, last three decades have witnessed a series of legal
and non-legislative measures adopted at the global, regional, as well as national
levels.
Twenty years after Stockholm and ten years after the World Charter for Nature,
the United Nations convened a conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992
to reiterate the Stockholm declaration as well as find ways of integrating economic
development and environmental protection. Two conventions were drafted at Rio: the
UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological
diversity (CBD). The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change), as the title indicates, is a framework convention which provides for the basic
obligations but leaves the specific commitments to the signatories. The Convention
follows a strange concept of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the natural system. One of the important
aspects of this Convention is the premise that ecosystems may adapt naturally to
climate change and therefore ‘prevention of dangerous anthropogenic interference
with the climate system’ does not imply ‘prevention of climate change’. The principles mentioned in Article 3 of the Convention are in the form of recommendation
(‘should’) and provides scope for interpretations/misinterpretations. These are:
i. The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of the present and
future generations of humankind on the basis of equity and in accordance with
the common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
ii. The specific need and special circumstances of developing country Parties
should be given full consideration.
iii. The Parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent, or
minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects.
iv. The Parties have a right to, and should, promote sustainable development.
v. The Parties should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international economic system that would lead to sustainable economic growth and
development in all Parties particularly developing country Parties.
The UNFCCC established three different groups of nations and categorized them
in three annexures:
• Annex 1 nations—consist of OECD member nations and economies in transition.
• Annex 2 nations—consist of only OECD member nations that are required to
provide financial resources to developing countries for emission reduction.
• Annex 3 nations—consist of mostly developing countries.
Each group of nations has been given certain responsibilities that are mentioned
in Box 2 [Ref—UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int].
4 Climate Mitigation and India’s Commitment to Global Community
that several platforms for brainstorming and to evolve ways for their protection were
established and effective measures were taken by many countries to conserve their
biological resources. Eventually, last three decades have witnessed a series of legal
and non-legislative measures adopted at the global, regional, as well as national
levels.
Twenty years after Stockholm and ten years after the World Charter for Nature,
the United Nations convened a conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992
to reiterate the Stockholm declaration as well as find ways of integrating economic
development and environmental protection. Two conventions were drafted at Rio: the
UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological
diversity (CBD). The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change), as the title indicates, is a framework convention which provides for the basic
obligations but leaves the specific commitments to the signatories. The Convention
follows a strange concept of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the natural system. One of the important
aspects of this Convention is the premise that ecosystems may adapt naturally to
climate change and therefore ‘prevention of dangerous anthropogenic interference
with the climate system’ does not imply ‘prevention of climate change’. The principles mentioned in Article 3 of the Convention are in the form of recommendation
(‘should’) and provides scope for interpretations/misinterpretations. These are:
i. The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of the present and
future generations of humankind on the basis of equity and in accordance with
the common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
ii. The specific need and special circumstances of developing country Parties
should be given full consideration.
iii. The Parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent, or
minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects.
iv. The Parties have a right to, and should, promote sustainable development.
v. The Parties should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international economic system that would lead to sustainable economic growth and
development in all Parties particularly developing country Parties.
The UNFCCC established three different groups of nations and categorized them
in three annexures:
• Annex 1 nations—consist of OECD member nations and economies in transition.
• Annex 2 nations—consist of only OECD member nations that are required to
provide financial resources to developing countries for emission reduction.
• Annex 3 nations—consist of mostly developing countries.
Each group of nations has been given certain responsibilities that are mentioned
in Box 2 [Ref—UNFCCC website https://unfccc.int].