Manmohan Singh's compliment to Dr Pachauri for contribution to climate change agenda - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday said that 'The Energy Research Institute' (TERI) under the leadership of Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chief Dr Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, has helped in meeting the twin challenges of energy security and climate change. Praising Dr Pachauri, Dr Singh said, "The Energy Research Institute (TERI), has, under the able and far-sighted leadership of Dr. R.K. Pachauri, earned well-deserved respect and international acclaim for its contributions to the global effort in meeting the twin challenges of energy security and climate change." Expressing disappointment over the Copenhagen accord, Dr Singh said, " I share the disappointment of many with the limited achievements of the discussions that took place at Copenhagen . At the same time it is important to ensure that we can deliver what we promise to do. An ambitious agreement that is observed only in the breach will discredit the whole process." "The Copenhagen Accord, which we fully support and will take forward, is a catalogue of voluntary commitments and not a negotiated set of legal obligations. A modest accord that is fully implemented may be better than an ambitious one that falls seriously short of its targets. This is the lesson that was learnt with regard to the Kyoto Protocol," he added. Dr Singh further said the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has to be the centerpiece of global cooperation on climate issues. "The purpose of the Copenhagen Accord is to contribute to the negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol and on Long Term Cooperation. It is not a substitute but a complement to these core international agreements," added Dr Singh. Dr Singh said, " A successful international agreement will require a consensus in two crucial areas. The first is on the science of climate change. The second is the ethical framework for giving expression to the central UNFCCC principle of 'common but differentiated responsibility". "One of the Missions under our National Action Plan is on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change to promote high quality and focused research on various aspects of climate change," he added. Dr Singh further said, "We have established an Indian Network for Comprehensive Climate Change Assessment, a network of over 120 research institutes, which will bring out regular reports on the impacts of climate change on different sectors and different regions of the country." "The first such assessment will be released in November this year. We seek international collaboration to make this network effective," he added. Dr Singh also talked about the Centre's plan to establish a National Institute of Himalayan Glaciology in Dehra Dun hoping to get international cooperation in this vital area. "The lack of global consensus on burden sharing is an even greater barrier to securing an agreement. Industrialised countries in our view need to recognise more clearly their historical role in the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They should respond with bolder initiatives to contain their future emissions," said Dr Singh. " India will spare no effort in contributing to the success of the post-Copenhagen process. The least developed countries and small island states deserve special attention due to their greater vulnerability to climate change. India will support all measures to assist them, both bilaterally as well as in the context of a global climate change regime," he added. Dr Singh said, "We recently convened a meeting in New Delhi of the Ministers dealing with Climate Change from Brazil , China , South Africa and India . The aim of the meeting was to carry forward the positive and constructive role the four countries played at Copenhagen ." "We wish to contribute, together with our G-77 partners, to a comprehensive, balanced and above all equitable outcome in Mexico based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities," he added.