Indian ICA proposal finds partial support in new drafts on mitigation actions

Cancun, December 2, 2010
By Arnab Pratim Dutta

India's proposal that all the countries with over one per cent of global emission share should subject their voluntary targets and mitigation actions have found partial mention in two notes by the co-facilitators of the AWG-LCA on mitigation actions.

Both the drafts, however, reflect a compromise between the actions to be taken by the Annex 1 and developing countries, addressing only the softer options for the time being. The mitigation methodology -- which has been hotly debated and on which a consensus between negotiators is yet to be reached -- has been left out for the next climate change meeting in Durban, South Africa.

India's proposal has found its way partially into the new text, although much of it is bracketed (which implies that there is no consensus on the issue). The formula of countries with a share of over one per cent of global emissions subjecting their domestic mitigation targets and actions to third-party verification has been bracketed along with the Chilean proposal of 0.5 per cent cut-off. The other offers in the Indian proposal, on the level of scrutiny and comparability of scrutiny, have not been put in the draft decision.

India, in its proposal on who should commit to international scrutiny, said that countries occupying more than one per cent of the global carbon space should submit ICA reports to international verification.

Some of the main highlights of the text:

Developing countries will submit biennial reports on national GHG inventories.
Least developed countries and small island states may voluntarily submit these inventories.
Guidelines will be prepared on the financial mechanism and procedures/guidelines for measurement, reporting and verification of actions that receive financial support from developed nations.
National communications on externally funded projects of developing countries will be submitted every four years.