Team break-up may turn tables

EVEN THOUGH tough environmen- Indian delegation that took part in
tal negotiations are still ahead in the the earlier discussions have
been post-Rio Summit phase, many on the replaced. This could easily put
India.
at a disadvantage in forthcoming
Ozone, Biodiversity and Climate
Change convention and at meetings
of the Commission on Sustainable
Development and the Global
Environmental Facility (GEF).

The official negotiating team
existed for more than two years and
took part in the negotiations leading
to the Rio Summit in June 1992. In
the process, its members developed
considerable expertise on the
subjects concerned. But now, most
of these officials, delegated
mainly from the ministries of environment and forests (MEF) and external affairs (MEA), have been transferred.

A new team from both ministries
will be involved in future environmental negotiations, which include
the governance mechanism of GEF;
the Biodiversity Convention, with
the West wary of intellectual property rights issues that it feels may go
against Western economic interests; a
separate protocol under the
Biodiversity Convention on intellectual property rights that could
open up a new can of worms, and
Climate Convention negotiations that
are sure to take up restrictions on
energy use.

These changes, offioals admit
privately, indicate a lack of serious
thinking on the part of the Indian
government. They stress a permanent
cell is needed to handle the ongoing
negotiations, as this will ensure the
Indian delegation is experienced and
can press for its environmental rights
and its economic interests.

The confusion is further compounded, observers say, because neither ministry has been designated the
nodal agency to handle these negotiations. In the run-up to Rio, Prime
Minister P V Narasimha Rao nominated MEF minister Kamal Nath to
lead the Indian delegation. Now,
experts warn a clear strategy must be
devised without delay to achieve
Indian goals in the environmental
negotiations to come.