United Nations, September 22
US President Barack Obama challenged the world today to act swiftly to fight global warming but offered no new proposals that could jumpstart stalled talks on a UN climate pact. Speaking shortly after Obama at a special UN summit on global warming, Chinese President Hu Jintau pledged to reduce the carbon intensity of his country’s economic growth.

In his speech, Obama said time was running out to address the problem. “Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it boldly, swiftly, and together, we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe,” he said.

Activists hoped the United States and China would inject momentum, 2-1/2 months before 190 nations gather in Copenhagen aiming to complete a deal to slow climate change.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who called the meeting, said talks were moving too slowly. “Failure to reach broad agreement in Copenhagen would be morally inexcusable, economically short-sighted and politically unwise,” Ban said.

“We cannot go down this road. If we have learned anything from the crises of the past year, it is that our fates are intertwined,” he said.

Talks leading to the December 7-18 meeting have put developed and developing countries at odds over how to distribute emissions curbs. Poorer nations are pressing richer ones to contribute hundreds of billions of dollars a year to help them cope with rising temperatures.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said talks are “dangerously close to deadlock” and were in danger of an “acrimonious collapse.”

Obama and Hu, who are scheduled to meet one-on-one after the summit, could help break the impasse. An aggressive move by China to curb its emissions, even if short of an absolute cap, could blunt criticism in Washington, where many lawmakers are reluctant to commit to U.S. emission cuts without evidence that Beijing is acting. — Reuters

United Nations, September 22
Blamed for the deadlock in climate change talks along with China, India says it will be a “deal-maker” and not a “deal-breaker” and would like to be part of a solution to hammer a new global climate pact.

Ahead of the UN climate summit of world leaders to be opened by President Barack Obama, India also said the present crisis on climate change is the “inability” of the US to put on the table credible emissions reduction targets for 2020.

“We are not part of the problem but we want to be part of the solution,” Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told reporters. The New York meet came ahead of the crucial UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December.

Ramesh said it was wrong to blame India for the deadlock on the global climate change talks and that it was prepared to be an “active player in working towards an agreement.” Asked about India being dubbed uncooperative and stubborn, Jairam said: “Not at all. I think the world is completely wrong on this. We have got an image that is contrary to what we have been doing.

The message that I am trying to convey is that we have not caused the problem of global warming but we want to be part of the solution at Copenhagen. We want to be a deal maker not the deal breaker.” The previous George W. Bush administration in the US long cited inaction by China and India as the reason for rejecting mandatory cuts in greenhouse gases.

Ramesh said India’s national climate plan envisages voluntary mitigation measures by 2020.

Ramesh and climate change expert Rajendra Pachauri also underlined the need for the US to bring about a “lifestyle change” to combat climate change. — PTI

Victoria Premier John Brumby, who on Monday announced a A$14 million package to shore up the lucrative international student market, will now be skipping the Mumbai leg of his maiden India visit beginning this week. His decision has poured cold water on his ‘charm offensive’ that is meant to allay fears of prospective Indian students in the wake of the recent series of brutal attacks on Indian students in this multi-cultural metropolis and the damage done to Australia’s education sector by exposure of dodgy private education institutions.

Brumby’s decision comes in the wake of a travel advisory issued by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that cautions all Australians about possible attacks by terrorists in Mumbai in September and October. But Brumby’s decision to not visit Mumbai seems to defy logic since the same advisory also cautions against possible threats in New Delhi, a city where Brumby will now be spending five days out of his eight-day visit.

Ironically, Brumby has been quick to heed to a travel advisory based on a possibility, but yet wants the flow of prospective Indian students to continue despite the recent spate of racial and opportunism based attacks on Indian students in a city where homicides and manslaughter has risen by 29 per cent and non-fatal assaults, including on the police force, by 7.4 per cent.

Last Sunday, about 200 people, many of them family members of murder and assault victims cutting across ethnic groups, rallied on the steps of the state parliament building here demanding political action to curb street violence.

Expressing disappointment with Brumby’s decision to cancel his visit to Mumbai, India’s Consul General in Melbourne, Anita Nayar, said, “This is a threat that we live with all the time and we look to the international community to support us in our fight against terrorism. It would have been great if the Premier could have sent that message. But I understand that there are constraints,” she added.

Brumby’s decision drew flak from ‘The Age’, a prominent Melbourne-based daily, which expressed the fear that the Premier’s decision could compromise the reason for his conciliatory visit. An irate letter writer said he could not understand why terrorists would want to waste their bullets on Brumby when they recently had for a possible target US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who in an act of solidarity stayed at Mumbai’s Taj, the venue of the 26/11 terror attacks last year.

The Victorian government’s package, which is more general than specific, includes the appointment of education service managers overseas including in Bangalore, a buddy system, the disbursement of information kits to provide support and help build networks for international students, and an expansion in the auditing of ‘high risk’ education providers. However, the glossy document does not address certain basic issues that continue to affect Indian and other overseas students. These relate to affordable and decent accommodation along with concessions for travel by public transport.