Some 80 presidents and premiers are expected to attend the final days of the conference on December 17-18. Obama might use his December 9 drop-by at the Copenhagen conference on his way to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway to announce a US offer on financing.
Negotiations to hammer out an 'equitable and fair' deal on climate change were deadlocked on Wednesday, even as hundreds of climate activists were tear-gassed, beaten up and detained for trying to break into the UN-sponsored Climate Summit in Copenhagen and establish a 'people's assembly', accusing the 193 participating countries of not trying to reach a new deal to combat the menace.
At Copenhagen, attempts to arrive at a fair deal on climate change were deadlocked with countries refusing to budge from their positions on sticky issues like emission cuts. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is leading the Indian delegation, said the BASIC group -- comprising India, China, South Africa and Brazil -- "is united and we would like to reiterate that we want an equitable and fair agreement to emerge out of the summit".
Proposals are being worked upon at the Copenhagen summit to cut the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, prominent among which is the use of nuclear energy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived at Copenhagen on Friday morning to participate in the concluding session of the Climate Summit amid a ray of hope for a political statement on combating climate change.
India and China seemed to be on the same side at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, while the United States had to gatecrash to join hands.
Asserting that the world does not have much time to correct the mistakes of the last century, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced a 'Green Credit Initiative' focused on creating carbon sinks through people's participation and also proposed to host the United Nations climate conference in 2028, or COP33, in India.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and to Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, the industry body has outlined its view on the climate change negotiations based on Indian industry's feedback and called for the prime minister to urge the developed world to provide technology transfer and funds to help mitigate the crisis.
The average global temperature between January and October has been 0.68 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th century's average global temperature of 14.1 degree C.
Obama would meet Modi on November 30, the opening day of the Paris climate change conference.
In an interview with Suman Guha Mozumder, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says a little less superiority and a little more humility on the part of India will serve us very well in the future.
'I think a little less superiority, a little more humility on the part of India will serve us very well in the future,' says Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
The Bombay Natural History Society and over 100 other NGOs across the world, which are partners of the UK-based BirdLife International, have stressed on replacing the 'wasteful and energy-intensive lifestyles with holistic, balanced and energy-saving lifestyles.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has arrived in Italy to attend the G-8 summit -- which neither carries high hopes for India, nor for the world.
India has said it was under pressure from some developing nations to accept the Copenhagen Accord prepared at the UN meet on climate change last month at the Danish Capital.
Consensus eluded negotiators on Wednesday to stitch an equitable and just accord on climate change in the last lap before the summit on Friday with no headway being made to iron out sticking points on carbon emission cuts, mitigation targets and long-term financing.
As one surveys the changing face of mulilateralsim today, we see mutation and multiplication. The underlying reality is that the world is multipolar and with more poles, you tend to get more constellations.
Encouraged by India and China's decision to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, US President Barack Obama is hopeful that an agreement could be reached at the ongoing climate conference in Copenhagen.
New text is "ambitious and balanced"
Major nations in the group are concerned over several drafts of a potential agreement that are floating around including the Danish proposal, which is yet to be fully disclosed.
The 54-page Paris agreement draft had been scaled down to 50.
Barely a week ahead of the UN meet on climate change in Copenhagen, India on Monday made it clear that there will be no compromise on its position on carbon emission cuts and will preserve its economic interest at all cost.
The Special US Envoy on Climate Change, Todd Stern, in a letter informed the UN Framework Conventional of Climate Change Secretariat about the Obama administration's decision in this regard, which is part of the voluntary commitment made by economies including India and China during the Copenhagen Climate Change summit.
The tense atmosphere between India and China has changed for good after the Copenhagen summit, claimed a top-level source dealing with the Chinese in Indian government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a three-day visit to Germany, Denmark and France from May 2 to 4 to further expand bilateral ties in diverse areas.
Hours before the prime minister's departure for Copenhagen, a cargo van brushed against the PM's special aircraft, Air India One, causing a dent. Sources said the PM was not in the aircraft when the incident took place
American Singer Terra Naomi performed in Srinagar on Monday evening to create awareness about the adverse effects of climate change on Kashmir.
India and the other BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa and China) have rightly decided to forego any funding that comes from the Fast Start Climate Finance pledges since smaller countries are in dire need of it.
As a special gesture, Frederiksen received Modi at the airport. He arrived in Copenhagen from Germany.
At the Paris climate change summit, there is talk of restricting temperature rise to 1.5?C instead of 2?C, which has been negotiated so far. This would give India less space to grow by limiting carbon emissions further, reports Darryl D'Monte, reporting exclusively for Rediff.com from the French capital.
After the heat it faced on climate change stand for the Copenhagen summit, the government on Tuesday came under scanner as the Opposition felt that India might come under US pressure on the trade talks in WTO.
India's per capita green house gas (GHG) emission in 2030 will be well below those in the developed countries in 2005, according to a report.
President Obama was seen patting Saran's back after the Copenhagen negotiations, but he characteristically laughed it away when I mentioned it in my TV conversation with him. Saran will be missed in the government, but he will be a welcome addition to the strategic community, which will benefit from his immense experience and innate wisdom
The real winners will be those who best align social, environmental, human and financial aspects of a companies' work, says Rajni Bakshi.
Ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference starting on December 7, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh told Parliament on Thursday that India will go with a positive frame of mind, but will not accept any legally binding cuts.
The issue of climate change is going to dominate the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which is being attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Macron held a tete-a-tete with Modi before the delegation-level talks at the Elysee Palace - the official residence of the French president.
Meera Shankar, Indian Ambassador to the United States, informed that India has convened a ministerial meeting in September in New Delhi to see how we can bring the Doha Round back on track and as a follow up to that meeting experts were expected to meet in October in Geneva.
Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday virtually backed the non-governmental organisation Greenpeace in the backdrop of an Intelligence Bureau report warning that the NGO is a threat to the country's economic growth.
'If Asia does become a Chinese dominated space, it will not only be because India failed to get its economic act together but also because it did not stand up for its democratic credentials,' warns Shyam Saran, the former foreign secretary.
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