India as an emerging power in international climate negotiations

Abstract

India's negotiation strategies in international climate policy have considerably changed over the past decade. While core positions have not altered substantially, the way they were presented and supported at the international level reveals major changes. In particular between 2007 and 2011, India's international climate policy shifted from defensive, pure distributive strategies toward mixed strategies with a number of ‘value-creating’ elements, dynamism and flexibility became clearly visible in India's international climate policy. This shift is confirmed by evidence from a novel dataset based on an assessment of country submissions at the UNFCCC negotiations, negotiation summaries and interviews with an Indian delegate and representatives of other delegations. India's change in strategy appears to be driven by several factors: developments in the national political landscape whereby the personality of the delegation leader and minister in charge plays a critical role, a general trend related to rising public awareness of India's vulnerability to climate change, increasing domestic energy constraints, direct economic benefits from the Kyoto Protocol's market mechanisms, reactions to international pressure from other developing countries, and increased reporting by domestic media.