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T he 8th
Conference of Parties (CoP) to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place in New
Delhi
during October 23 to November 1, 2002. The Ministry of
Environment and Forests, Government of India is the official
host for this conference. The CoP is the ultimate authority for
any policy decisions on climate change issues. So far, seven
CoPs have taken place and deliberated on how to successfully
implement the UNFCCC provisions and the Kyoto Protocol. Several
issues such as implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), small scale CDM projects, technology transfer,
afforestation and reforestation, etc. need further discussion
and we hope CoP 8 will throw light on many of these.
Since CoP 8 is taking place in New Delhi, it will be a good
opportunity for the grassroot NGOs from India and other South
Asian countries to participate in the CoP process which means
raising awareness among them and building their capacity and
thus furthering the objectives of the UNFCCC.
Indian NGO Forum
Keeping
in view the important role played by NGOs in the CoP process and
the customary in earlier CoPs, the Government of India envisages
proper representation of NGOs from India and other South Asian
countries and their activities during the CoP 8. In order to do
this effectively and systematically, the Ministry of Environment
and Forests has entrusted the leading NGOs in India in the field
of climate change viz. Development Alternatives, Tata Energy
Research Institute, Centre for Science and Environment and
Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research to coordinate
the activities of the NGOs in India during the CoP 8. This
consortium is given the name Indian NGO Forum. The
Indian NGOs willing to participate in CoP 8 may like to contact
one of these organisations for assistance.
Climate Action Network
In
addition to being a pro-active member of the Indian NGO Forum,
Development Alternatives has also been entrusted by the Climate
Action Network (CAN) to coordinate the activities of the CAN
during CoP 8. CAN is a global network of more than 300 members
in more than 80 countries. These NGOs work on local, national
and international level to influence decision making by state
authorities and companies in such a way that human induced
climate change is limited. CAN plays an important role in
international climate politics. The climate change negotiation
and the resulting UNFCCC has been a crystalising point of CAN’s
activities and CAN has been actively monitoring the progress and
setback with UNFCCC over the decade.
CAN
aims at securing equal regional participation of its members in
the CoPs. As the CoP 8 is discussing various issue of concern
for developing countries, participation of NGOs from the
southern countries is particularly crucial.
DA
Calendar of Events for CoP 8
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Inter-regional Conference on Adaptation to Climate Change |
October
18-20, 2002 |
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Side
Event : Market Based Mechanisms for Climate Change
Mitigation - Issues and Concerns |
October
25, 6 - 8 PM |
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Adaptation Day |
October
28, 2002, 6 - 8 PM |
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Plans,
Programs and Achievements for Adaptation to Climate Change :
South Asian
Perspectives |
October
28, 2002 6 - 8 PM |
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Release
of the State of Environment Report : South Asia |
October
28, 2002, 8 PM |
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