Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the Copenhagen Summit on climate change on December 18, reflecting the seriousness attached by India to the meet where it is expected to play a crucial role.
Challenges posed by climate change hit centre stage in 2009 which saw the government doing a flip-flop ahead of the crucial Copenhagen summit even as the Opposition and experts alleged that India succumbed to pressure from rich nations on emission cuts.
A top US delegate at Copenhagen summit denied the possibility that hacked e-mails had made the case for sceptics stronger and said the incident would not affect the fate of climate change bill in the American Senate.
How the UN's flagship climate summit lost its direction and what's at stake.
Even if the leaders can't negotiate a binding agreement, many countries hope to work out commitments to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions and provide assistance to poorer countries likely to be hardest hit by the effects of global warming.
The divergent utterances by environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh and prime minister's special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran have created a good deal of ambiguity within and outside the country over the government's strategy for these talks.
With less than two months to go for the climate-change summit in Copenhagen, India has resolved to re-brand itself as a deal-maker.
A few interesting and offbeat moments culled from the climate change summit.
The overwhelming feeling at the end of COP 27 was that despite decades of meetings and landmark accords, like the Paris Agreement, the world was still not doing enough to slow the climate crisis, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Alarmed by the confusion created by the public expression of divergent opinions by his key advisors on climate change, the prime minister summoned Saran and Ramesh and asked them to put their heads together and come forward with an agreed text that would reflect both their concerns, a senior government official confirmed.
India decided to cut down its carbon emission intensity by 20-25 per cent by 2020 in the run up to the Copenhagen summit, shortly after a similar declaration by China.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday India would continue to work with like-minded people to make the Copenhagen climate change conference a success.
"From the Indian point of view, if I were a politician, I'd continue to play it hard," explains Mike Hulme, professor at the University of East Anglia's prestigious climate change programme. "From a rational perspective, India has to do what's best for its people."
Preparations for Copenhagen is on full swing. Minister Jairam Ramesh met 5 MPs to discuss India's approach.
The developing countries fear that the mysterious draft prepared by Denmark would be sprung upon hours before the high-level segment of climate talks begins, making it difficult for any world leader to oppose.
Global warming could cause the death of a quarter of a million children next year as a result of natural disasters causing an increase in injuries, water-borne diseases and starvation.
US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have already expressed their intention to attend the 15th conference of signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change slated to kick off on December 9.
A controversy -- described as climategate -- has broken out regarding the authenticity of the data provided by the prestigious East Anglia University of the United Kingdom that formed the basis of the United Nations report on climate change.
"Climate change is a major global challenge. But it is not of our making," Modi said.
Senior journalist Darryl D'Monte reports exclusively for Rediff.com from Paris.
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.
'It is absolutely critical on pure economic terms, but it's also smart politically, because a recent survey reported that 73 percent of Indians view climate change as the most pressing global concern,' US Secretary of State John Kerry tells a high-power audience in Washington, DC.
One hundred-and-ninety-two countries have signed the climate change convention.
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.
'The Paris Conference is a decisive meeting on climate change.' 'Negotiating an agreement between 196 countries is indeed a challenge.' 'If we go beyond 2°C, the consequences will be extremely difficult to deal with.'The poor are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.'
So far, major emitters are far from curbs on emissions on a scale outlined by the IPCC.
India is likely to announce its targets for the Paris deal by September-end.
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 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.'
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.
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.
A key UN climate change summit that will be attended by nearly 150 world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicks off on Monday under the shadow of the deadly Paris terror attack to try to craft a long-term deal to limit carbon emissions.
Al Gore committed a blunder at the Copenhagen climate change summit by claiming that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years.
A 35-member team represents India at the world's biggest climate change conference at Copenhagen.
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.
Seeking a constructive approach to move forward in the global efforts to combat climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that India is willing to do more provided there are 'credible' arrangements from rich nations on financial support and technology transfers.
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 the negotiations in Copenhagen appeared to have entered a deadlock, the Obama Administration has insisted on "transparency" of any operational agreement on climate change at the ongoing summit meeting in the Denmark Capital.
The US President is scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen early Friday morning local time. Obama will attend the morning plenary session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference and is expected to deliver brief address on the issue.
