By IOL South Asia Correspondent

NEW DELHI, November 2 (IslamOnline)- Participants from 169 countries at a UN convention on climate change did reach an agreement on a “Delhi Declaration” after overcoming quite a few difficulties and disagreements, here late Friday, November 1.

The declaration was frequently described as a “compromise document” as it does not insist too much on “commitments” or even “discussions”.

The European Union, which had been demanding firm commitments from developing countries, said the declaration “significantly lacks action and a vision for future.”

The head of EU delegation, Thomas Becker, said they had agreed to the ministerial declaration to keep the process going. However, far more is needed to be done to cope with the challenge of climate change, the EU made clear.

The EU has called upon all countries-developed as well as developing- to engage in a common dialogue with a view to kicking off a process for future action,” a statement from the EU said.

EU said voices for future action were raised both from the North and the South. It supported the declaration’s emphasis on renewable energy as 80 percent of the emissions came from energy.

India’s energy minister, TR Balu, president of the 10-day meet, described the declaration as “a memorable outcome,” bringing into focus issues of adaptation and capacity building.

There was some difference in the approaches of the European Union as a whole and Germany as an individual nation. While EU wanted commitment to emissions reductions from all participants, developed countries as well developing, Germany wanted such commitments primarily from developed countries.

The declaration intends to build the “capacity” of developing countries to “adapt” to climate changes and cope with the challenges involved. This would need technology transfers from the developed countries for cleaner production and for coping with existing problems.

The two biggest polluters of the planet, the U.S. and Russia, remained the cause of worry throughout the 10 days of deliberations. The U.S., which contributes 36 percent of all greenhouse gases (GHGs) has opted out of the Kyoto Protocol and Russia, which is the second biggest polluter, with 16 percent of emissions, was to ratify Kyoto by next year, but is no longer sure.

Between them, these two countries represent the greatest headache for climate change problems. For all its efforts to sabotage strategies to put climate change over the last 10 years, the U.S. got the first prize for “bad boy” performance at the meet.

Debbie Reed from the National Environment Trust in America got a glass vase carrying a cactus plant in a sand bed in “recognition” for America’s consistent performance at stalling negotiations. Climate Action Network, a group of 300 NGOs, gave the “award”. Saudi Arabia and Canada were runner-up and second runner-up respectively.