‘We need a business case for clean tech transfer’

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: it. What really struck me is that the treasury officials, while announcing this fund, said it’s in America’s national interest to help developing countries acquire the technology they require. I see this sign as a fundamental shift in their mood. Today the discussions focus on tapping the opportunity of exporting clean coal American technologies to China, which is a win-win deal for both the countries.

Getting the US to join the Bali negotiations was the easier part. How optimistic are you that they will take on emission cuts?

I think it’s a matter of picking your topics carefully and then taking up the right topic at the right time. I think the idea of internationally agreed targets is not something you can usefully discuss with this administration because they are not interested in it. On the other hand, you can have a useful discussion on what type of long-term goals we should be having. You can have useful discussion on sectoral approaches rather than focusing on national goals. You can talk usefully on financial mechanisms about adaptation and the transfer of technology. There are many useful discussions you can have with this administration now. Some of the political things may need to be left out as of now.

The US led the recent meeting of the major economies on climate change in Hawaii. Do such parallel initiatives supplement or detract from the official negotiations?

They absolutely help. We need every opportunity that we can get to explore issues informally apart from the negotiated process. For example, the major economies’ process is important because this particular group of countries contributes 80% of the global carbon emissions. If they can develop a better understanding of the way forward, I think it’s a very useful contribution to the process.

The last year saw the mid-term review of the millennium development goals (MDGs), reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Nobel Prize for advocacy on climate change, and finally the Bali meet? Will the fatigue cause a bit of lull now?