Switzerland will host an informal summit of 40 countries, including India, on global warming on
Friday to discuss modalities for a new Climate Fund that is expected to unblock the stalled negotiations on the issue.
Since the Copenhagen Climate Change meeting in December last year, the ongoing negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) have made little progress on a range of issues, including the emission-reduction targets as well as financing for mitigation and adaptation.
The two-day meeting in Geneva which will be attended by 40 Environmental Ministers, including India's Jairam Ramesh, is expected to test developing countries' resolve to resist the mounting pressure for new forms of funding, especially through private sources, as proposed by leading industrialised countries, said officials from developing countries.
"We are confident that India will provide ideas to arrive at the basis for climate-fund financing," Franz Perrez, a senior Swiss foreign office official in charge of environment,told PTI.
"India has excellent negotiators and we expect both the minister (Jairam Ramesh) and his officials to interact with other countries on the key issues on financing," he said.
The Swiss meeting is not expected to result in any agreement or declaration on the financing for climate fund.
"It is not supposed to arrive at any agreement but it would set the basis for further negotiations on what ought to be the key elements of the new climate fund," the Swiss official said.
Industrialised countries had agreed to provide USD 100 billion by 2020 at the Copenhagen meeting to address climate change mitigation and adaptation in poor countries. Until now,
they have not spelt out how the fund will be raised and who will oversee its administration and disbursals.
The global climate fund is one of the divisive issues in the ongoing negotiations and is expected play a critical role in deciding the fate of the 16th Conference of the Parties
(COP16) in Cancun, Mexico, later this year, said a developing country official. While there is general consensus among industrialised and developing countries on the need to increase financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation, the two sides remain divided on the core elements such as the sources for funding
and its oversight.
Two new sources of funding to fulfil the overall requirement of USD 100 billion for the climate fund are likely to be presented at the Geneva meeting.
They include levying carbon taxes or duties on the most polluting industries like coal-fired power plants and other industrial enterprises that emit massive CO2 gases across the world, and slapping taxes on airlines and shipping companies
that contribute to environmental degradation.
Developing countries, including some non-governmental organisations like WWF, are sceptical about these new sources of financing on the ground that they undermine the commitments
made by rich countries in Copenhagen.
"The new proposals from the industrialised countries appear to be an attempt to shift responsibilities from public sources to private funding and they would impose considerable economic burden on developing countries," said an official from a developing country.
The Brazilian ministry of environment said it accepts the need to include private money but it cannot be the main source for funding for the climate fund. Instead, Brazil insists that
there should be clear commitment from industrialised countries about their total contribution for the global climate fund.
The three emerging countries - China, India and Brazil- are also expected to be asked to contribute to the climate fund given their impressive economic growth and development.
"We would be very happy if the three emerging countries contribute to the climate fund," said Perrez, suggesting that the final contributions should be decoupled from the
historical contributions to climate change.