Manmohan Singh seeks constructive approach to combat climate change - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday called for a constructive approach to move forward in the global efforts to combat climate change. In a statement issued ahead of his departure to Copenhagen , Denmark , for the Heads of States meeting, Dr. Singh said: " India is willing to do more provided there are credible arrangements to provide both additional financial support as well as technological transfers from developed to developing countries." "Climate change cannot be addressed by perpetuating the poverty of the developing countries. Every citizen of the globe has equal entitlement of the global atmospheric space," he added. He said it is India 's view that global warming is taking place here and now and its adverse consequences will impact most heavily on developing countries like India . As a responsible member of the international community, India is therefore fully committed to working with the rest of the world to preserve and protect our environment. Dr. Singh said as a responsible member of the international community, ' we announced that we would reduce the emissions intensity of our growth by 20-25 per cent in 2020 as compared to 2005'. Dr Singh further said that he looked forward to constructive deliberations in Copenhagen which meet the collective aspirations of all humankind and enable them to move forward in the global efforts to combat climate change. He also said that the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol embodied the international agreed regime for addressing the global challenge of climate change. "The UNFCCC is founded on the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. At the 13th Conference of parties in Bali , the parties had agreed to launch an Action Plan to enhance the implementation of the UNFCCC," he said. "The Bali Action Plan seeks to ensure full, effective and sustained implementation of the UNFCCC through long term cooperative action of the Parties upto and beyond 2012," he added. Dr. Singh is expected to make an intervention at the plenary of the 15th Conference of Parties on Friday which would be addressed by Denmark Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon. Dr. Singh will be accompanied by his Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Saran and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. World leaders, including US President Barack Obama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, will also be at the plenary where they would try to reach a political agreement to tackle global warming.