LD CLIMATE 2

Ramesh said that the President of the 15th Conference
of Parties (COP) Connie Hedegaard had stressed that these two
texts would be presented to heads of state when they arrive on
Dec 17-18, and also mentioned that Hedegaard had said that a
document with minimal "brackets" (alternatives within the
text) could also be adopted.
"That is our expectation," the minister said.
"We have made clear that heads of state should not
negotiate drafts or texts," he said, adding that they had
received reassurances from the president of COP 15, Denmark,
Britain, US, Brazil and China but that Australia might still
try to initiate negotiations between the world leaders.
"It is also expected that there they will be some kind
of Copenhagen Declaration prepared by the Danish government.
"We hope that will be the result of a transparent
consultative process and that it would not be sprung on us out
of the blue," Ramesh said.
Meanwhile, Indian Environment Secretary Vijai Sharma
said: "We are hoping at this point of time because all the
delegates are working hard and there is still some time left
before the high level segment convenes and hopefully there
should be good results on both the tracks."
The overall Climate negotiations are moving under two
tracks -- the first track is LCA under Bali Action Plan that
requires parties to produce a legally binding treaty before
the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in
2012. MORE PTI