An expert on global agreements on environment and climate change has said that there have always being discrepancies in them that threaten their implementation.

Nitin Sethi told journalists attending the Media Colloquium of the World Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi, India,that most of these agreements are usually dominated by developed countries who do not take into considerations the realities of the developing countries. He added that at times the negotiation are mostly dominated by western experts and scientists who are only looking out for their own interests.

A Senior Associate Editor with Business Standard, Sethi has covered the negotiating process for environment and climate change agreements and attended the meetings. He explained that the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which most countries are currently ratifying, is just a strategy to continue sitting at the discussion table. The implementation, which is due by 2020, may face serious threats to implementation as is usually the case with past global climate change agreements.

Many countries across the globe have different challenges and local constraints and climate change has different dimensions and the threats vary from country to country, he said. Climate change global agreements are debated in a way that leaves many unanswered questions and because they are negotiated behind closed doors it makes objective reporting difficult for most journalists, who usually end up copying from the summit daily news bulletin, Sethi opined.

Many countries usually leave without their points being taking into account and they are mostly the smaller developing countries which at times are underrepresented. Sethi, however, admitted that despite its flaws, the Paris Climate Change agreement was a good platform to start tackling climate change threats and challenges globally.

The main issue is that if any clause in an agreement does not favour the developed countries, they start unnecessary delaying tactics, he said citing the Tokyo Protocol, which is still being opposed by European Union.

Responding to questions from the journalists he said that the implementation of most global agreements is usually being threatened by economic interests. However, the developed countries usually used financial means to lure the developing countries to accept them. This the case with Paris Climate Change Agreement for which the developing countries are requesting for $100 billion for helping them meet its goals. He concluded that the only way developing countries can make their points is by grouping themselves in blocs like Africa, Asia and South America and working together.