India's presentation on the recommendations on the contentious "monitoring, review and verification" (MRV) was well taken at the two-day meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Climate Change here.
India's viewpoint was appreciated by the 17-members of the MEF, besides the UN and besides four other countries including Columbia, Denmark, Grenada and Yemen, was presented by the Indian Minister of State for Environment, Jairam Ramesh, through a video conference on Wednesday.
"Recognising the urgency of moving forward,
participants felt that in Cancun countries should at a minimum agree on a balanced set of decisions informed by the Copenhagen Accord," said Michael Froman, the Chair of the Conference and the US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs.
"Participants discussed what work needs to be done in the year ahead, including the need to elaborate the measurement, reporting, and verification and other transparency provisions of the Accord.
In this regard, they welcomed India's presentation on practical approaches to MRV and international consultations and analysis," Forman said, in a statement at the conclusion of the two-day meeting.
"Minister Ramesh had a leading role on in talking about that (MRV) today. I think that this will take time to work out. He spoke to some extent a kind of basic structure about, how to approach this.
I do not think there was a lot of dissention in the room with respect to what he said.
It is a highly important issue for us and for others and I am reasonably optimistic that we can make progress on it," the Special US Envoy on Climate Change, Todd Stern, told reporters in a teleconference after the meeting.
In the absence of Ramesh, India was represented by the country's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Manjeev Puri.
Noting that MRV is not an issue limited mitigation action by developing countries, Ramesh in his address through video conference said that the Copenhagen Accord states that industrialised countries too have to be brought under MRV for
emissions reduction and financing.
Froman said, participants supported the Mexican Presidency's efforts to prepare COP16, which is expected to be held in Cancun.
"Many countries noted the importance of moving
forward promptly with the Accord's Fast Start financing provisions in a transparent fashion.
Several countries presented information on the
actions they were already undertaking in response to their fast start financing commitment under the Copenhagen Accord,"he said.
Countries generally felt that Copenhagen Accord represented an important step forward, and that it provided important political consensus that should be reflected regarding the key issues in the negotiations leading up to Cancun, Froman said.
"Participants discussed goals for Cancun and beyond.
There was a discussion of the role of the Kyoto Protocol and the form of a legal outcome.
There was also a discussion of the key issues that need to be addressed to have a successful outcome in Cancun, noting the importance of setting realistic expectations for Cancun," he said.
"Various participants also spoke on equity, the role of markets, engaging smaller countries in the mitigation effort, how to ensure that the approach going forward reflects the dictates of science, domestic actions already underway to
implement mitigation commitments under the Accord, and actions to reduce deforestation," Froman said.