Climate breakthrough at Durban

The climate talks at Durban ended with the participating countries agreeing to a new global climate change regime which will come into force from 2020. For the first time the world's biggest polluters China, the US, India and Brazil have all agreed to move towards a single pact by 2015 and it will take effect in 2020. India has emerged as a leader of the developing countries and was part of the centre-stage of the negotiations.

The new accord would put all the countries under binding commitments to control greenhouse gases (GHGs) to keep the global temperatures in check. India’s major demand of equity has found space again in the negotiations and secures 10 years of economic development space without binding commitments.

The Kyoto Protocol (second phase) will continue to be in force beyond 2012. Currently, only industrial countries have legally binding emissions targets under the Kyoto agreement. Until now, only 37 developed countries and the European Union have committed to binding emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol. However, not much action has been taken by the developed countries to reduce emissions under the Protocol.

The conference also agreed that developed countries would contribute to a global fund worth $100 billion a year designed to help the developing nations cut emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. The details of the fund are yet to be worked out. The funding is urgently needed to support poor people to adapt to impacts of climate change that they are experiencing now.

Comment: Failing to make progress by all the countries will leave the world increasingly exposed to the risks that rising sea levels, increasing temperatures and more severe storms pose to our environment and economy. The situation is going to be dangerous.