Equity has been central to the multilateral negotiations on climate change mitigation and adaptation between the South and the North.

A greenhouse gas reduction target of 40% below 1990 levels for 2030 for the European Union, to be achieved within Europe, would not necessarily be sufficient for achieving the target of limiting global temperature increase to 2 °C, given a possible lack of comparable efforts by other countries.

India occupies an intriguing dual position in global climate politics – a poor and developing economy with low levels of historical and per capita emissions, and a large and rapidly growing economy with rising emissions.

The theme of the Rio + 20 Conference was "Green economy in the context of sustainable development and eradication of poverty" and it has not been possible to the find common ground in the serious differences over what constitute economic growth and human wellbeing – ‘the future we want’.

Green growth entails several different kinds of processes: conversion to low-carbon energy, climate resilience, and response to climate shocks. Equity implies a fair sharing of the costs, within countries and between countries. The authors set out to explore some of the ways that equity has been considered in climate change discussions.

Document contains the full text of Speech of Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Environment & Forests, Government of India, delivered at High Level Round Table on “Looking at the way forward in implementing the expected outcomes of the Conference” on 20 June 2012 at 4.30 - 7.30 p.m. at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil