Global monitoring: will it do?

Let's harp a bit on Cancun before moving on...

India is pushing a global emissions monitoring system in Cancun talks that could become the centerpiece of a compromise with the United States if other developing countries sign on. Jairam Ramesh, India's environment leader, has however placed conditions on such transparency - money and technology assistance to developing countries and the extending of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol beyond its expiration date in 2012.

How to establish a system for use by developing countries to monitor, report and verify their emission cuts has emerged as the most contentious issue in the talks and the main sticking point between America and China. The latter resists international monitoring of its steps while the former refuses to part with funds unless this happens.

Under Ramesh's plan, a global monitoring system would be constructed "on the strict understanding that it is a facilitative process for transparency and accountability, and that it will not have any punitive implications of any sort." Countries would do their own reporting to the United Nations, and a panel of experts chosen by a variety of countries would review the submissions.

The proposed system would be applicable to all countries that emit more than 2 percent of global greenhouse gases, but there will still be a distinction between developed and developing nations. Industrialized countries like the United States will report on the progress of their emission reduction commitments, while developing countries will report on their mitigation actions.

Will this make a difference? More important, will the two nations agree?