Amanda Hodge,
South Asia correspondent From: The Australian
December 07, 2009 12:00AM ELEVENTH-HOUR compromises by two of the world's top climate polluters have raised hopes of a breakthrough at the Copenhagen summit starting today, with US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreeing at the weekend to attend the leaders' meeting.
Mr Obama announced early on Saturday that he would defer his visit to the conference to its final scheduled day -- when leaders from more than 80 nations are expected to meet -- encouraged by both India's and China's decisions to set greenhouse gas emission-reduction targets.
He also committed the US to paying "its fair share" of a proposed $US10 billion a year, short-term finance package to help poor countries develop cleaner energy sources.
"Providing this assistance is not only a humanitarian imperative -- it's an investment in our common security, as no climate change accord can succeed if it does not help all countries reduce their emissions," the White House said in a statement.
Mr Obama had discussed the proposed fund with leaders from Australia, Germany, France and Britain and concluded there was "an emerging consensus that a core element of the Copenhagen accord should be to mobilise $US10 billion a year by 2012", the White House added.
The US President had earlier planned to stop in at Copenhagen on December 9 while en route to collecting his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. But his weekend change of heart prompted New Delhi also to confirm Mr Singh's attendance at the 12-day summit, where thousands of delegates have gathered to broker a new emissions pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, has already said he will attend.
The conciliatory moves followed Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's announcement last Thursday that India would slow greenhouse emissions growth (or reduce carbon intensity) by 20-25 per cent of 2005 levels by 2020 and consider allowing international verification of its progress.
China and the US together are the world's top two climate polluters, responsible for 40 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. India is ranked fourth or fifth, but its greenhouse contributions are tipped to rise steeply.
Australia remains the world's highest per-capita producer of carbon dioxide.
Most leaders now acknowledge that the Copenhagen meeting will most likely result in an interim political deal and a promise to reconvene next year, rather than the previously hoped-for binding international treaty.
But the White House said it believed it was still possible to conclude a "meaningful Copenhagen accord" in which all countries pledged to take immediate action to address climate change.
Environment lobbyists have welcomed the decisions by both Mr Singh and Mr Obama as a positive sign.
However, India's last-minute pledge to slow emissions growth has sparked a public spat between Mr Ramesh and two of India's top climate negotiators, who delayed their departure for Copenhagen at the weekend in protest.
The negotiators claimed the Environment Minister's statement last Thursday was a "huge departure" from India's previous position that it would not agree to binding emissions reductions, and accused India of "toeing the US line".
A former key government climate and energy adviser, Surya Sethi, also ripped into Mr Ramesh at the weekend for trashing India's former negotiating position.
"While rubbishing India's earlier negotiating strategy, the minister has also negated a principle that has been enunciated by the Prime Minister repeatedly," he wrote in the Sunday Times of India, referring to the developed world's "historical responsibility" for global warming and the developing world's right to pursue economic growth.
Mr Ramesh insisted yesterday his announcement represented no major change to India's position and that the emissions-intensity reduction target was voluntary.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has said that by 2020 anywhere from $US33bn to $US50bn will have to come directly from the public budgets of rich nations each year to help developing nations.
Additional reporting: The Wall Street Journal
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