India has renewed its commitment to continued international climate change negotiations. In fact, two recent pieces of news indicate that they are perhaps looking to take an even larger role in shaping future global actions on climate change.

First up, India has nominated their Secretary of the Environment, Vijay Sharma, to lead the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Yvo de Boer stepped down from the position last month, and there has been a lot of talk about the next Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC coming from a developing country.

Right now, South Africa's minister of tourism and environmental affairs is the only other candidate vying for the position. Indonesia is also considering nominating one of their officials for the position. Either way, this positions the UNFCCC to move forward on the next climate change conference in Cancun later this year fairly seamlessly.

Having a representative from a developing country at the top of the UNFCCC will provide a few benefits. It will give the negotiations new life as developing countries might feel their interests will be given more priority. It will also bring a fresh perspective to how to best deal with climate change. Since most developing countries aren't major sources of emissions, it's possible that future climate negotiations could find more a balance between talk of adapting to climate and mitigating it. India stands at the nexus of all these issues and having a representative from the country leading the UNFCCC would hopefully shed more light on them.

Second up on India's climate change radar, the country sent its commitment to the UNFCCC to be "formally listed" under the Copenhagen Accord. On the bright side, India was the last major emitter to commit to being listed in the preamble of the Accord. This helped assuage worries by developed countries that India and China (the second-to-last to sign), two of the biggest emitters in the developing world, might strike out on their own.

There are two caveats to India's commitment, though. In the letter to the UNFCCC, India's Joint Secretary of Environment and Forests, Ranjani Ranjan Rashmi, notes that the Accord is separate from the continued international negotiations. Specifically, the letter states:

"The Accord was not adopted by the Conference of Parties but just taken note of. However, the Accord could have values if the areas of convergence reflected in the Accord are used to help the Parties reach agreed outcomes under the UN multilateral negotiations in the two tracks[However[ the Accord is not a new track of negotiations or a template for outcomes."

The other caveat is that the letter reiterates that the Accord is non-binding. Neither of these is major cause for worry. However, it does give insight into where India stands on the Accord and negotiations going forward.

They both show that India does not want the Accord to be the framework for a future international agreement. If areas of overlap or individual components of the Accord work well, then folding them into international negotiations would be acceptable. Rejecting the Accord as a new path forward for international negotiations, though, the Indian government has effectively snuffed out something some US negotiators were hoping might happen.

At the same time, Mr. Rashmi's letter indicates there are some parts of the Accord that India finds appealing and would like to see worked into international negotiations. However, what those areas are remain to be seen. Perhaps if Mr. Sharma is selected as Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, those goals will become clearer in the months leading up to Cancun.

What is important is that India is showing a renewed engagement in international climate change negotiations. This level of engagement could provide incentives for China, which sees itself as India's rival in the international sphere, to reach for higher emissions reductions and become more involved in climate negotiations. It could also push leaders in developed countries to take a more serious stance on climate rather than fall behind India. A race to the bottom of emissions would be a welcome change of pace from the current state of international gridlock.

Photo Credit: Nimrod Bar