I am so proud to be an Indian.

After the announcements that Environmental Minister Jai Ram Ramesh has made in the parliament on Thursday, I wanted to respect the positive direction by adorning a “bindi” (a traditional Indian accessory you stick on your forehead between your eyes), eagerly looking forward to greater leadership from India at the COP15 negotiations.

A bindi is a symbol of pride, of commitment to one’s husband, but in my case, commitment to a proactive leadership by India and a fair, ambitious and binding deal at Copenhagen.

What have they done right?

From all the stances, post the recent announcements from the US, China, Brazil et. al, India seems to have projected a serious concern backed by appropriate actions and keeping all stakeholders in the process very very happy.

1.Opening the debate to the parliament floor

Although the US has not taken to acceptable commitments, it was positive to see that all the US Congress members key to pushing the Waxmen-Markey bill are aware of the nitty gritty details about climate change and the negotiations. For too long, climate change was never debated on the parliament floor back in India.

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Among the 12 of us tracking the delegations here at Bangkok , I’m really tempted to go out in the evenings after a hard day’s work in the negotiations. I think after running after 60 year old negotiators from my country I require some youthful energy to enthuse the atmosphere!

From the perspective of a Non Annex 1 girl ,I feel that it would be literally impossible for me to find love among my team of 12( keep in mind, there are no non annex 1 guys) due to the following very very STRONG reasons:

1. He is not willing to COMMIT

I am thinking Leela, I will think about it, I have loads of domestic responsibilities ( read: girls back home) to undertake said the American Tracker. Whereas all the others supported him ,obviously ,collectively coming to a decision as the European Union , but nevertheless made their individual statements.

Instead they all say: Lets start all over again, lets try and get to know each other( read: shift baseline from 1990 to 2005)

What is keeping you from committing? Is it the reason that you feel I’ll dominate the relationship in the long run? ( read: I’ll develop more than you over the years).

2. He takes more SPACE in the relationship

Adam- the Canadian Tracker

He takes more of the space in the relationship( read: has a massively higher proportion of pollution than us) and still demands he needs more space!

This is so totally NOT FAIR!

3. He refuses to FINANCE dinners

Although they have so much more money considering the dollar to baht exchange rate is amazing , they fail to fund my dinners. So I end up paying for myself, but considering that I don’t have the capacity to buy special desserts and exotic cakes, it becomes difficult to try and eat my share! ( read: we can fund local missions like solar but in case we need to scale up activities we require your help!

4. Hates my mother ( READ: tries to kill the KYOTO PROTOCOL) (more…)

On Sunday I went to shop at the Chaduchak market here at Bangkok. If anyone has been to Delhi they’d say it’s just like the Sarojini Nagar Market, with thousands of people trying to fit into never ending corridors and multiplying shops.

At the UNFCCC here in Bangkok, we don’t have the choice to “buy” for the involved parties. But we’re glad to know that a lot of the “selling” process has started. Now that the red lines have been drawn and the annex 1 parties have started putting their ‘conditions’ on the table , every country delegation is going shopping for new ideas and proposals or siding with existing ones.

Exploring all the options that parties can shop, presenting “The Chaduchak” inside UN Centre Bangkok

Money Exchange and ATMS

Finance – Norwegian versus the Mexican proposal. Parties are considering two new proposals on the table for finance and investment for adaptation and mitigation activities across the world. The Mexican proposal proposes constituting a GREEN FUND where each country will contribute a specific amount of their GDP in accordance with a common but differentiated responsibility. This means that countries will contribute proportionally to their historic emissions. Whereas the Norwegian proposal provides a framework for the annex 1 parties who would be creating a pooled fund by auctioning units specified to them according to existing responsibilities (in layman terms what proportion of pollution is caused by them) and historic responsibilities (how much they did pollute relative to base year – 1990).

The food court-The Hustle and Bustle

Thai Massage Corner

Mitigation targets and the lowest bidder concept attract the largest amount of attention in the negotiations. As countries continue to bargain excessively on the least amount of targets that they could get away with, we ask them whether they are losing the environmental integrity of the protocol? So far big countries like Japan have taken fancy to the number 25, but they’ve imposed so many conditions for actually committing that it seems they may not actually want to go through with this! Cautious optimism is required! US just evades the question of differentiated responsibility for itself as it slides away the attention to the “common” responsibility and for all countries to take action. While the Indian food stall provides to maximum customers who love standing by the Bali Action Principles of Common but differentiated responsibilities.

The ‘brands’- Gucci and Prada (more…)

Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka are under the grip of flash floods. Several towns and villages in the states, particularly in Kurnool, Mahabubnagar and Krishna districts in Andhra Pradesh, have been inundated with the mighty Krishna river and its tributaries in spate for the past two days.

With Tungabhadra dam also in spate, nearly half of the Kurnool town has been inundated. The famous Mantrayalam temple has submerged. Over 25,000 people in Kurnool town alone have been stranded in water. According to unofficial reports, the floods have so far claimed the lives of over 200 people across the state.

“At least 25 villages are inundated and standing crops are completely destroyed,” stated the Andhra Pradesh disaster management officer, Y.R.V. Sharma. The recent floods have certainly brought attention to the climate challenge but not enough for the Indian media.  All throughout the first week the Indian media was conspicuous by its absence here at the Bangkok negotiations but all of a sudden, they will surely flood the negotiations in the second week.

My sincere request, please do your homework and catch up with all the recent happenings within the walls of the UN center here at Bangkok, because these very walls won’t speak and with the lack of media present in the first week I don’t see the right messages having gone out .

While the negotiations just carry on taking in circles and arriving at the same point, the enormous text is in its own way, flooding our minds . All the jargon, the acronyms, the “distinguished” formal language somehow loses the idea behind the whole convention. The saving grace are the big rallies and marches asking for climate justice which are not only in simple understandable language but remind the negotiators of the purpose behind the negotiations and what they are here for.

Anti Nuke Rally back in Delhi

Back home, the Indian Youth Climate Network participated in the anti-nuclear rally which was a big hit on the streets of Delhi.  We certainly hope that their voices were heard by the negotiators all the way in Bangkok because I sometimes feel they have no idea of all the great local actions taking place in their own country which they should not only acknowledge but celebrate in the plenary speeches here at the UN climate talks.

In honour of those who lost their lives in the recent floods I’d like to urge the Indian media to wake up and start spreading the great work India has planned to undertake and make the message loud and clear – WE are WILLING to do everything  we are required to which is within our capacity until and unless the Annex 1 parties take ambitious targets. Without them committing we have already taken the most ambitious solar mission plan to generate 20,000 MW solar power by 2020 . This is the most ambitious plan of its kind in the world. Apart from that we have all ready committed to 100 million tonne reduction of CO2 by 2020 which is five times more than the European Union is willing to commit at the moment (source:  India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change). If we can commit more than you, with a  situation like ours, what’s stopping you from being ambitious?  Aren’t you ashamed enough already?

India, US, and China, in order with their respective ice creams

I love ice cream and can never get enough of it.  But what is intriguing is the Indian ice cream seems to be melting much faster than any other type of ice cream at the UN negotiations here at Bangkok.

Are we being really fussy and imitating the US and EU negotiators?

Are we also speaking without doing our “home” work?

Why can’t we lead by example? I am certain that we aren’t out of capacity, after all we are some of the best brains in the country coming together at these negotiations.

Let us analyse exactly what India is doing with regard to international negotiations:

So we are saying that we cannot shift to a sustainable path if we are given finance and technology transfer. But have we calculated the costs of a two degrees temperature increase on our economy? Have we considered what would the impacts be of short term increase of temperature in our own country (long-term is another story)? Before pointing out to anyone on their inactions, maybe we should be prepared for actions in our own country.

And this is not because the others are not taking leadership, this is because of the millions of people on our coasts.

Personally, I do not see my country doing anything to protect the vulnerable poor individuals who will probably bear the burden of these short term emissions.

Have we mapped and put Nationally Appropriate Adaptation Plan Actions (NAPAs) which are in line with our socio-economic factors such as the economy, gender, health and other human indicators? I dont think so. I don’t see this as something our politicians are taking seriously!

Has our parliament even considered this as a serious issue?  Politicians are worried about their votes which they mostly get by advocating for bijli, sadak, and pani (electricity, road and water). Couldn’t these be renewable energy derived electricity generation, sustainable roads and infrastructure and sustainable water management, conservation and access?  Doesn’t this translate into a stronger agenda for running a campaign?

Don’t you think that will win you more votes or make you an effective government?  Don’t these issues actually give you more political competence given that Al Gore used climate change to do exactly that?

Politics and climate change not can but need to go hand in hand.  Let us plan to educate our politicians with regards to that!

We really hope our negotiators pick up from the action of the GCCA to host the Chinese tracker and the Indian tracker in the same room. What really hurts both of us , that despite our continuous efforts of building capacity and encouraging local action , the international media still feels like we will be the reason for stalling the negotiations on the way to Copenhagen.

What do I have to say to this???

Well, India and China are definitely key players but most importantly they are the key MOVERS of the negotiations and can actually lead us to the answer to whether we see a deal in the Copenhagen treaty. First introducing you to the background narrative which involves some crucial factors of exactly why Media is taking this stand, in particular US local media.

The first being the impact of positive globalisation which has led to the high level of competitiveness in the international labour market. Given the mastery of the Indian ability to ace IT related jobs, other countries are losing jobs. But contrary to this fact, almost all our rural traditional artisans are unemployed because of intense competition from mechanised textile counterparts, so globalisation is actually affecting us much more adversely than it is to other nations.

Another prominent underlying factor is the Trade Union lobby namely the CITU – Central Industrial Trade Union which apparently is now willing to do something for climate change since they ahve realised that the adverse impacts are the most hazardous to its very own workers? The argument that India is a Debtor country. We cannot afford to scale up solar activities or provide renewable energy driven power unless and until we get finance and technical transfer from the Developed countries. Besides our human development indicators are really dismal for eg our infant mortality rate is so high. We really need to reform our country and in that context coming out with independent goals for mitigation seems a really non negotiable deal. India is a poor country with around 25 % of our population living under the poverty line and it is these vulnerable lives that are at stake. (more…)

Abassador Das Gupta, the Ram of our Ramleela here

Happy Dushhehra to all readers in India and lets celebrate the victory of evil over good. I’m really missing burning the Ravana here, all the way in Bangkok. But , instead what I am aim to do through this post would be to try and burn the Ravana present here in the negotiations.

Yesterday at the long term cooperative action meeting we saw the US negotiator Jonathan Pershing defying the protocol rules and quoting the environment minister of India which won him the role of the perfect Ravana in our very own Ram-”leela” at UNFCCC negotiations.

A very well played tactic to buy some more time for the USA to make a ambitious or rather no statement.

Jonathan Pershing, the Ravana in the UNFCCC

Ok , so how much time do you need?

Haven’t you taken enough?

Maybe time enough for you to build yourself a home on the moon after polluting and making the planet uninhabitable !

Whats with asking for a new combined sub group to chalk out the mechanism for the so called” architecture” of the agreement for developed and developing countries?

Someone needs to tell Mr Pershing that we aren’t going to buy this argument anymore !

Stop stalling negotiations and excusing yourself for doing NOTHING and getting away with it.

Do you decide the architecture of you’re home first or whose funding the building and who’s paying the rent on that space?

Stop with all the big words (aka- Waxmen Markey Bill) , pass the bill atleast and then make such a statement to others in the Plenary!

But our very own Rama also known as Ambassador Dasgupta with all his godly demeanor laughed and said very politely that ” Since I am here representing my country, I guess I would know best of what position my environment minister wishes to take “. Kudos to Mr Dasgupta , you have a new set of followers who have been silently worshiping you in the negotiations.

In the beginning of the day just after the opening ceremony , I had a little conversation with Ambassador Dasgupta who happened to tell me that the focus should be on maintaining the Bali and Convention principles and the one great thing to look out for is the official launch of the Solar mission and Renewable Energy Mission in November. When I asked him of whether he hated what I did, as tracking him everywhere, he just laughed and mentioned that as far as you’re doing your job and doing it well , no one should have a problem.

Mr Prodipto Ghosh , just happended to arrive right after I finished my conversation with Dasgupta, and was extremely interested in guiding me of what I should do after my undergraduate degree and how I should map out my career from here. Of course , its nice when he takes as much interest in me , that I take in what he’s doing.  But what makes him  was extremely angry and pretty much just give up on the negotiations is INEQUITY.  When I asked him why he didnt voice the anger towards the lack of leadership of the Annex 1 he said , who’s listening Leela???

Do they ever listen to us?

Well, I’ll tell you sir , WE ALL ARE LISTENING BACK IN INDIA !  WE all are listening and supporting you to pressure the A1 ahead.  Give Ghosh Sir a sense of security !Prove it that we’re listening! Write a comment and I will pass the msg to him…

Great going India, burning the Ravana and bringing out the godly Ram with great domestic actions back in

Our Negotiators in Bangkok

the country and we are glad that you are progressive and constructive to NOT block negotiations.
Hoping to celebrate the good soon,some positive negotiation outcomes at the end of Bangkok.  maybe DIWALI , what say guys?I wish the Ravana is burnt out and countries dont block the negotiations and let our efforts go waste!

In the backdrop of heavy pressure on the annex 1 countries to submit to harsh emission targets, there seems lack of focus of two very key areas. Urban Sustainability and Migration. Here in context of India, it is specifically relevant since we have 70 % rural population and not a single nationwide migration policy. We face all sorts of migration issues related to communal/religion oriented migration such as the fleeing of Kashmiri Pandits out of Kashmir to the climate refugees from Bangladesh entering our country. But the most important transition seems to be made from the rural to the urban areas.

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Looking at the political deadlock in the negotiations, I believe that a possible solution, although very ambitious would be to put all the official PARTY members, Non Governmental organizations, youth , Ringos, Igos and all the various stakeholders in the process to a global solution through Peer and Intercultural learning. At the GTZ Summer school we have been through a five step learning process with a culturally and academically diverse group of scholars.

We started with getting to know each other as a part of a process of participants’ experiences. We presented our own profiles and our learning styles- being either Extrovert or Introvert , Sensate or Intuitive, Feeler or thinker, judger or perceiver and we kept in mind the different working styles and incorporated learning by doing processes accordingly.

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Mr. R. K. Sethi, Member Secretary, The National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority, Designated National Authority (DNA), Ministry of Environment and Forests had a meeting with an elite group of NGO officials from EDF to Greenpeace Germany to CAN and carbon services international. There I was sitting as a youth representative who was expected to know nothing about CDM, but I guess all of us present were pleasantly surprised. Just to reiterate my point, Global youth is as much on track if not more than all the other stakeholders in the secretariat. (more…)

Mr. R. K. Sethi

R K Sethi Interview Profile

Member Secretary, The National CDM Authority -Designated National Authority (DNA); Ministry of Environment and Forests; Chairman, CDM Executive Board, UNFCCC Secretariat

The aim of profiling our negotiators is getting to know them at a personal level and hence understanding how they make decisions. Some really interesting insights and dimensions of our negotiators ‘ personalities.

Academic Profile

A bachelors degree in electrical engineering and a Masters in Technology in Energy Studies from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and then continued to a complete an MBA degree. (more…)

The aim of  interviewing our lead negotiators is that we get to know our negotiators better, understand the cultural, religious, academic and regional diversity within our delegation.  I also believe that building a personal relationship with each negotiator interview aids in our tracking process as well as gives us an idea on the principles and working philosophies of our delegation. Sometimes this gives us hints to our possible political strategy. (more…)

Just yesterday I happened to go conquer the extreme weather and venture out to a side event at Hall 5 which was at least 800 meters from the main conference venue. Well opposite my hall I saw a huge crowd of delegates coming out of Hall 6 smiling, I wondered had the “climate nut” cracked?  Had they reached a consensus?  Had millions of dreams come true?  On further interrogation Hall 6 had an art exhibition where all the delegates came to shop for jewelery, hats, and dresses.  What was really ironic is that the same two delegates of Africa and France who may have never been able to reach a conclusion apparently came to a consensus about a jewelery piece they wanted to buy with comments flying in from the Spanish and the Indian!

There was complete EQUITY here. The shopping experience was extremely rejuvinating for all delegates, and I strongly recommend it to be shifted to the main conference venue. This could get us to a spectacular consensus in POZNAN.

Reporting from the AWG-LCA (Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action) contact group meeting on the mitigation actions and its implementation:

Saudi Arabia  stated that they cannot support REDD being so fast tracked.  They need more time.  Measurable, Reportable, Verifiable (MRV)-pledges from the DCs (developing countries) and demand for the resources to be pooled together and  for a system that matches the resources with the action, provided that there is reporting from both sides.  What they can do with some of the unilateral reactions is that they can use their resources to pick up the credits which will contribute to the mitigation.  The other concern for them was the impact of mitigation actions- need for bigger cuts and more involvement, a system that provides for the assessment of this mitigation for different parties that should be a part of the portfolio for mitigation activities under the UNFCCC. The actions and efforts to combat Climate change, MRV efforts in particular system can find out how to distribute resources equitably.

Papa New Guinea’s main concerns were on focusing on the list of points on the Bali Action Plan, and lack of clarity on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries). They highlighted the tension as a country to reach emissions reductions and at the same time go by their sustainable development objectives.  Thus, nationally appropriate measures and GDP growth financing capacity should be combined with the dual objectives should coexist. (more…)

I was at the press conference room with just 5 other people who felt that carbon Fix was important.Carbon Fix is basically a standard that will change things in the carbon volatile market andit was being presented by the Chairman of the technical Board at the Carbon Fix Initiative. Every product will have a climate code once it is climate neutralised and will have a unique code which once fed into the website you will be able to access the information about this product-who it is produced by and its carbon footprint along with the analysis of the carbon footprint. What’s so amazing is that the end consumer is able to participate in carbon neutralisation which will give a google map and charter the CO₂ reductions to your personal account.

This system can enable to bring about transparency and create awareness. The goal is to stop the labeling of green washing and see what products are doing regarding neutralising

End product is linking to an eco service, you buy certificates, split units and then assign a CO₂ code. The system is an open source system. All kind of certificates will be able to be traced by the CO₂ code.359 organic food labels have already set up.

CO2 buyer and stakeholders are involved. Media is able to get all kinds of information and project developers is able to sell their carbon emissions.

First product in January in Germany and UK and from January 2009 will take off.

Reduce what you can and balance what you can’t.

I posed two question to them:

Greenwashing- the labels are decided by the government standards?

How are you ensuring the infrastructure?

My take on this is that this system won’t work because what happens is that the labels put will be from different countries hence they will have double standards.