Marks Radical Shift In Climate Talks New Delhi: India took a long step back into the developing world camp and towards its original international stance with environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan demanding much greater commitment from developed countries before India even begins to discuss a legally binding agreement on climate change. She was speaking at a two-day informal ministerial gathering at Pretoria, South Africa, ahead of negotiations in Durban in December. She demanded that equity be put at the heart of the climate negotiations and that rich countries first commit to addressing their historical responsibility before asking anything more of emerging economies like India, indicating that Jairam Ramesh’s ‘flexibility’ era was over. For India, this was a radical move away from the approach her predecessor had taken as environment minister. Jairam had agreed to begin discussions on a legally binding deal. In contrast, Natarajan took a stand that got the support of other developing countries as well. “At this stage, we do not have to discuss the nature of a legally binding agreement,” she said in her statement that sources said had the developed countries irked and the developing countries collectively in support. India’s stand under Jairam had shifted steadily in agreeing to an international climate deal that moved away from the existing terms of negotiations. The existing convention had squarely put the responsibility on the developed countries to be the first and substantial movers on reducing emissions. Over two years — at Copenhagen and Cancun — Jairam had taken the lead in accepting mutations that would alter the balance and bring a regime where emerging economies would take on binding commitments as well. “Stabilization of climate is based on the actions that are taken to reduce emissions. We cannot avoid this fact even if it may not be palatable to some of us,” Natarajan said, taking a shot at countries like the US that have balked at the talk of carbon space and its equitable distribution. Sources told TOI that when the US special envoy on climate change, Todd Stern, used Jairam’s earlier statements to counter India, Natarajan deftly handled the moment stating, “When he talked of a domestically legally binding framework of actions, minister Ramesh did so in the context of balanced and comprehensive outcomes in the two-track process. In the current scenario, I do not see the assurance of a balance.” To cut the jargon, she ‘re-interpreted’ Jairam to say that without strong emission reduction targets by developed countries on Kyoto Protocol, progress could not be made on an over-arching deal where emerging economies take on greater responsibility. “India has already taken substantial actions at great cost. However, in a scenario where rich countries are not doing enough, the issue of a legally binding agreement has acquired huge political sensitivities in India. I am guided by a political consensus in my country,” she said.