Aiming for transparency, says Environment Secretary C.K. Mishra

Ahead of the December climate talks in Katowice, Poland, India is hosting two key meetings in New Delhi with a group of countries called the LMDC, the ‘Like Minded Developing Countries’ (India, China, Venezuela and Iran) and BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China), which are networks that have been formed to lend weight to the concerns of the developing countries.

One of these meetings, of the LMDC, was underway on Thursday here.

190 countries

The Conference of Parties (COP), a league of at least 190 countries signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), meets annually to discuss ways to address issues related to climate change.

The Hindu had reported on October 15 that India was having discussions with at least 40 countries, including China, to forge alliances and compel developed countries to make good on promises, made over the years, to provide enough finance and technology to stem global warming.

‘Important meetings’

These meetings are important, said Union Environment Secretary C.K. Mishra, for countries to craft a common front to ensure that the rules, which will govern how the 2015 Paris climate pact that will come into force from 2020, are implemented fairly.

Last month, Mr. Mishra chaired a session at a ‘Pre-COP’ meeting in Poland. “Ahead of the talks next month, we are aiming for transparency and in ensuring that matters related to finance and technology are all discussed together, instead of separating them under various heads, as seemed to happen previously,” Mr. Mishra told The Hindu.