The  last decade has been a decade of rigorous soul- searching about the environment throughout the globe - what are we doing to our planet? The Industrial Revolution has changed forever the relationship between humanity and nature. There is real concern that by the middle or the end of the next century human activities will have changed the basic conditions that have allowed life to thrive on the earth.

Emergence of the Issue
In 1898, the Swedish scientist Svante Ahrrenius proposed that carbon dioxide emissions could lead to global warming. Various laboratories around the world took up the research to identify the evidences of global warming and climate change, the culprits, and the likely impacts of it. The subject was not a straight forward one and different schools of thought emerged.

It was only during the First World Climate Conference in 1979 that this issue was brought to wider attention. The report of a National Academy of Science (NAS) panel on climate change advised that "a wait-and-see policy" may mean waiting until it is too late to avoid significant climate change.

The IPCC Established
To give policy makers and the general public a better understanding of what researchers had learned, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. The mandate of IPCC was to assess the state of existing knowledge about the climate system and climate change; the environmental, economic and social impacts of climate change; and possible response strategies.

The first IPCC report released in 1990, confirmed the scientific basis for climate change. It had a powerful effect on both policy makers and the general public and strongly influenced negotiations on the Climate Change Convention

The Convention Conceptualised
The growing scientific understanding of the issue led to a series of intergovernmental conferences focusing on climate change during late 1980s and early 1990s. The Second World Climate Conference in 1990, featured negotiations and ministerial-level discussions among 137 States plus the European Community and called for a framework treaty on climate change. This conference could not specify any international targets for reducing emissions. However, it paved the way for development of the Climate Change Convention.

The concepts of "climate change as a common concern of humankind", the "importance of equity", the "common but differentiated responsibilities" of countries at different levels of development, "sustainable development" and the "precautionary principle" were brought forward for the first time during this meeting.

Shaping the Convention
The United Nations General Assembly approved the start of treaty negotiations in December 1990. Five sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC / FCCC), consisting of negotiators from 150 countries, took place between February 1991 and May 1992 to finalise the Convention. It was adopted on 9 May 1992 in New York and opened for signature during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994; as of today 165 countries are members of this Convention.

The most important contribution of this Convention was to establish a process for responding to climate change over the decades to come. The convention also provided a system of developing and reporting national greenhouse gas emissions inventories, climate change strategies of the countries and a review mechanism to track the Convention’s progress. In addition, developed countries agreed to promote the transfer of funding and technology to help developing countries respond to climate change. Developed countries also committed to take measures to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000.

Conference of Parties
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) that drafted the Convention met for some more sessions to discuss matters relating to commitments, arrangements for the financial mechanism, technical and financial support to developing countries, and procedural and institutional matters. After its eleventh and final session in February 1995, the INC was dissolved and the Conference of the Parties (COP) became the Convention’s ultimate authority.

The first session of the COP was held in Berlin from 28 March to 7 April 1995. During this meeting, the members felt that the commitments made in Article 4.2 (a) and 4.2 (b) of the Convention were not adequate. They established the Ad hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate (AGBM) to draft "a protocol or another legal instrument" for adoption at COP-3 in 1997. The purpose of the Berlin Mandate was to take appropriate action for the post-2000 period, including strengthening the commitments of Parties included in Annex I to the Convention.

All around the world there was a surge of meetings and seminars to discuss the pros and cons of the Convention. Development Alternatives also organised a conference in New Delhi in 1995 on Joint Implementation as conceived in Convention. In January 1997 Development Alternatives organised a major international conference in New Delhi on "Activities Implemented Jointly to Mitigate Climate Change: Developing Countries’ Perspectives". AIJ was being looked upon as a mechanism for learning lessons on joint efforts for climate change mitigation. A number of AIJ projects were taken up in East European countries, Latin America and Africa; five AIJ projects were approved in India as well.

Soon after the Berlin meeting, the IPCC brought out the Second Assessment Report in December 1995. The Report concluded that "the balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on global climate". The Report also suggested various cost-effective strategies for combating climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol
The third session of the COP, held in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, was one of the most important COPs because the Kyoto Protocol to the Climate Change Convention was adopted during this meeting. The Kyoto Protocol set targets for GHG emission reduction by each developed country (Annex I Party); the combined target for all the developed countries being at least 5.2% from 1990 levels. The Parties must reach their targets by the period 2008-2012.

The Protocol established three mechanisms that have the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of meeting the Kyoto targets. The three mechanisms are: Joint Implementation (JI), Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) and International Emission Trading (IET).

Clean Development Mechanisms (Article 12, UNFCCC)
The purpose of the Clean Development Mechanism is to assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the ultimate objective of the Convention and to assist Annex B countries in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments (QELRCs), as provided under Article 3 of the Protocol.

The CDM is the most relevant for developing countries as it can benefit developing countries greatly in addressing their main agenda of poverty alleviation through rapid economic development. Such a mechanism can provide a transfer of funds and technologies to developing countries speed up their sustainable development process. A number of operational issues for CDM are yet not very clear. It is, therefore, important that these issues be discussed during the COP 6 scheduled from November 13 to 24, at Hague, the Netherlands.

Operational issues for CDM:

Ø Criteria for eligibility as a certified project activity: These criteria would help in developing CDM projects for earning CERs and for investing in certified project activities.

Ø The supplementarity issue: to decide on how much of the CERs through CDM projects can be used by Annex B countries towards their commitments.

For meeting the supplementary restriction a strong domestic action by Annex B countries and a "CAP" from all the three Kyoto Mechanisms would be necessary. The question of "CAP" could be deliberated on at COP 6.

Ø Certification: Article 12 requires the establishment of an international process for independent certification of emissions reduction achieved by CDM projects. Each country could set up Climate Change Outreach and Facilitation Centre (CCOFC) to facilitate the process of CDM project development and certification and verification of (1) achieving sustainability, (2) emission reduction. Development Alternatives in India has already established a CCOFC for this purpose.

It is very important that COP 6 discusses and brings out operational rules for ensuring that the emissions reductions are real, measurable and have long-term benefits related to the mitigation of climate change and the project activity helps in achieving sustainable development.

Ø CDM Executive Board: The CDM Executive Board could be constituted mainly from non-Annex I country parties as CDM is primarily meant for assisting the developing countries to achieve sustainable development.

Ø The need to demonstrate additionality: Both the CDM and JI projects are required to generate emissions reductions additional to any that would occur in the absence of the project activity. To ensure this a strict rule on developing baseline would be necessary. COP 6 could bring out operational rules for developing baselines particularly for CDM projects.

Ø Contribution to the Sustainable Development: One of the prime purposes of the CDM is to help developing country Parties achieve sustainable development. The COP 6 could to set a process for certifying sustainability through quantified sustainable development indicators (SDIs) for each project in consultation with all the stakeholders viz.; host country / business sector, investing country / business sector, local community, NGOs and the civil society.

Ø Adaptation: The COP 6 could decide on quantitative share of the proceeds for meeting such adaptation costs. The adaptation cost may also include cost of research in developing countries for a clear understanding of vulnerability to Climate Change.

Ø Share of the proceeds: The COP 6 could decide on how the proceeds from CERs would be shared between (a) host country, (b) host partners, (c) investing partner, (d) adaptation cost and (e) meeting the administrative costs of the Executive Board.

Ø Need for immediate ratification by all countries particularly the Annex B countries: The COP 6 could impress upon the Annex B countries to ratify the Protocol so that the Protocol can come into force latest by June, 2002.

Ø Early CDM: The COP 6 could make a provision for early CDM projects so that climate change mitigation projects which meet the criteria of CDM may get the benefits of the CERs when the Protocol comes into force.

Ø Other operational issues like:
    

Considering that there are considerable loopholes in the Protocol, strict rules to discourage non-compliance of commitments need to be clearly brought out. COP 6 could consider penalty (for non-compliance) which should be legally binding.

COP 6 will be a success if it:

§ discusses and irons out the above issues
§ triggers the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in sufficient numbers to bring it into force and,
§ motivates significant action by the Parties especially the Annex I Parties in providing funds and technology to non-Annex Parties so as to help them in their sustainable development as well as GHGs emissions reduction. q