Madam Chancellor,

I must thank you for raising this issue, of such significance for our future generations and us. Your ideas, and those of PM Blair, President Bush and PM Abe are very useful for us to have a constructive discussion today.

We all have a vested interest in making our planet secure for our children and grand children.

India’s GHG emissions are among the lowest in per capita terms. Moreover, being only around 4% of the world’s emissions, action by us will have a marginal effect on overall emissions.

Nonetheless, we recognize wholeheartedly our responsibility as a developing country. We wish to engage constructively and productively with the international community and to add our weight to global efforts to preserve and protect the environment.

We are determined that India’s per-capita GHG emissions are not going to exceed those of developed countries even while pursuing policies of development and economic growth.

We must work together to find pragmatic, practical solutions, which are for the benefit of entire humankind.

These should include mitigation and adaptation strategies with fair burden sharing and measures to realize sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

The process of burden sharing must be fair. It should take into account where the primary responsibility for the present levels of GHG concentration rests and not perpetuate poverty among the developing countries. No strategy should foreclose for them the possibilities of accelerated social and economic development.

The principle of common and differentiated responsibility and respective capability is very important.

The time is not ripe for developing countries to take quantitative targets, as these would be counter-productive on their development processes.

Adaptation is the key for developing countries. It needs to be adequately resourced without detracting funds meant for development, which, in any case, is the best form of adaptation.

The determination of any particular stabilization goal and the time frame in which it should be achieved needs to be made at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

This should be preceded by a scientific consensus on impacts at different levels of GHG going beyond the current IPCC findings, which still document many uncertainties.

It is important that critical and promising clean technologies are made affordable for developing countries, where there is a large reliance on fossil fuels.

The IPR regime should balance rewards for innovators with common good for humankind.

We also believe that the carbon market has a significant role to play in tackling climate change and that we should spur private sector involvement in climate related technologies and investment.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has worked well and needs to be expanded to include approvals for programmatic approaches. Enhanced level of GHG abatement commitments by the developed countries would significantly stimulate CDM projects.

Let us leave Heiligendamm determined to continue our exchanges and to invigorate the existing for a where these issues are being negotiated. In the meantime, our representatives could continue informal discussions to carry forward our dialogue and to build on what we believe in common.

Thank you.

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