India & China Agree That UN Climate Agreement Will Mean Business As Usual

1. The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Two Sides’) recognize that climate change and its adverse effects are the common concern of mankind and one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century, which needs to be addressed through international cooperation in the context of sustainable development.2. The Two Sides recall the Agreement on Cooperation on Addressing Climate Change between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People’s Republic of China signed in 2009 and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on Cooperation on Green Technologies signed in 2010. They decide to further promote bilateral partnership on climate change and enhance the role of this partnership in their overall strategic cooperation partnership through the implementation of this Joint Statement and the MoU as well as the Agreement.

3. The Two Sides emphasize that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol are the most appropriate framework for international cooperation for addressing climate change. They reaffirm the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and call for the leadership of developed countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing finance, technology and capacity building support to developing countries.

4. The Two Sides will work together, and with other Parties, to advance the multilateral negotiations to achieve a comprehensive, balanced, equitable and effective agreement under the UNFCCC in 2015, with a view to ensuring the full, effective and sustained implementation of the UNFCCC. In this context, the Two Sides express their full support for the success of the UN Climate Conference to be held in Paris, France (Paris Conference) this year.

5. The Two Sides reaffirm that the 2015 agreement shall be in full accordance with the principles, provisions and structure of the UNFCCC, in particular the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, reflecting different historical responsibilities, development stages and national circumstances between developed and developing countries. The 2015 agreement shall address mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and transparency of action and support in a comprehensive and balanced manner.

6. The Two Sides stress the equal importance and urgency of implementing the outcomes of the Bali Road Map in order to increase the pre-2020 ambition and build mutual trust amongst countries. The Two Sides urged the developed countries to raise their pre-2020 emission reduction targets and honour their commitment to provide 100bn US dollars per year by 2020 to developing countries.

7. As the two biggest developing countries, China and India are undertaking ambitious actions domestically on combating climate change through plans, policies and measures on mitigation and adaptation despite the enormous scale of their challenges in terms of social and economic development and poverty eradication.,.

8. China and India are fully engaged in their domestic preparations for their respective intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) in the context of the 2015 agreement and will communicate their INDCs as early as possible and well before the Paris Conference.

9. The Two Sides believe that their bilateral partnership on climate change is mutually beneficial and contributes to the global efforts to address Climate Change. In this regard, the Two Sides decide to enhance high-level bilateral dialogue on domestic climate policies and multilateral negotiations and to further strengthen practical bilateral cooperation, including in areas of clean energy technologies, energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transportation including electronic vehicles, low-carbon urbanization and adaptation.