India seeks more talks on contentious climate draft

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian negotiators have played down a proposal for major economies to consider setting a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, saying there were contentious ideas in the draft on the cuts needed.

The proposal is part of a draft document put forward by the United States and Mexico at talks in Mexico this week, without reaching an accord.

A copy of the text was made available to Reuters and is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the 17-member Major Economies Forum (MEF) on the sidelines of a G8 summit in Italy on July 9.

Plans also include doubling of public investments by the major economies in low-carbon technology by 2015 and boosting funding from public and private sources as well as from carbon markets to fight global warming.

But Indian negotiators returning from Mexico said there was no consensus over the draft text and many hurdles remained, especially on the scope of emission cuts for different countries.

A top negotiator said the problems mainly related to mitigation measures such as determining the long-term global emissions goals and setting a peak year for global emissions.

"There are differences on some of these issues, so it's not a consensus text that is ready to be adopted in one more meeting," the official told Reuters on Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Another Indian official with knowledge of the negotiations said: "There is difference of opinion and approach among the participating countries."

The 17 MEF members account for 80 percent of global emissions so any agreement among them would go a long way to defining a new U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

The two-page draft declaration does not set clear goals but says that developed countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan, would "undertake robust aggregate and individual mid-term reductions in the 2020 timeframe."

Developing nations such as China and India say rich nations should cut emissions by "at least 40 percent" below 1990 levels by 2020 -- a target developed nations say is out of reach when they are trying to stimulate recession-hit economies.

The Indian negotiators said there was broad consensus on the need for more funding for climate change adaptation and the transfer of clean-energy technology, but there were differences of opinion on the amount and how to disburse the money.

"More than the volume of funds it's the delivery mechanism, the commitment that is important," one of the negotiators said.

(Editing by David Fogarty)