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Special meet on Kyoto protocol ratification

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 7. India has convened a special meeting of about 40 select countries here on September 29 to ensure that the conference of parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate to be held here from October 23 to November 7 would prove a success, overcoming the sharp North-South divide.

The meeting would particularly focus on the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on reduction of emission of greenhouse gases, adopted under the convention five years ago, but is still to come into force as several key countries have yet to ratify it.

The defaulting countries include the U.S., Russia, and Canada.

While the U.S. has openly taken a stand that it would not ratify the protocol, Russia and Canada had sent out signals during the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg that they might ratify it.

But then, since there could be many a slip between the cup and the lip, India and other countries including members of the European Union which have ratified the protocol, would like Russia and Canada to spell out their stand more categorically.

The special meeting is also expected to try and reach some meeting ground between the developing and developed world over the contentious issues of funding and transfer of eco-friendly technologies.

Apart from the U.S., Russia and Canada, the countries that have been invited for the special meeting include China, Australia, Argentina, Germany, France, Japan, Indonesia, Qatar and Venezuela.

Sources in the Union Environment Ministry, which is organising the meeting, said the countries had been selected in such a way that all regional groupings and interests were adequately represented.

For instance, while Qatar is the leader of the oil-producing countries, Venezuela is the leader of G-77 and China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases among the developing countries.

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