More than 130 world leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Jiabao, will be attending the Rio+ Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro later this month.
Both the Indian and Chinese leaders know only too well this will be a crucial meeting to put the south — south point of view across to fight climate change.
The US President Barack Obama has not yet confirmed his attendance at the 20th anniversary of the world’s first Earth Summit, which gave birth to three major environmental treaties on climate change biodiversity and land degradation and desertification.
The environmental situation in these last two decades has only deteriorated. But with no country wanting an overarching new international treaty, and with official negotiations progressing poorly, the interesting action will be on the sidelines.
A United National-led panel had proposed that development goals replace millennium development goals after 2015 but neither Dr Singh nor Mr Jiabao are willing to accept deadline based goals.
PMO sources indicate that the Earth Summit will see India and China present common environmental goals.
This is likely to be Dr Singh’s last meeting with Mr Jiabao, who is likely to be replaced by Xi Jinping, the new Premier, later this year.
With more than 50,000 people expected to participate in the several events taking place at Rio, India will push for upholding the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.
“We will be negotiating to make sure that the Rio principles are reaffirmed and all sustainable development has to be viewed with the approach of equity and common but differentiated responsibility so that developing countries can have their share of development,” environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan said.
“The Cabinet has given a full mandate to all our negotiating strategy at Rio summit. It is basically reaffirmation of first Rio summit principles that there should be sustainable development,” Ms Natarajan said.
“Sustainable development is based on three pillars — economy, social and environment. And the entire concept of sustainable development has to be approached in the light of equity and the principle of Common but Different-iated Responsibility (CBDR),” Ms Natarajan added.