Countries such as Denmark and Australia were blunt. The head of the Australian delegation said in the Round Table session, "What was needed was a 50-60 per cent reduction by the end of the century, and for this all countries need to take action, including developing countries." A delegate from Denmark said, "Discussions on what will happen after 2012 has to start, and some developing countries need to start thinking of engaging in measures to mitigate greenhouse gases (GHGs)."

But G77 and China are putting up a strong fight. They have made it quite clear that they are not willing to take on new commitments. Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also came out strongly in his speech to the conference: "Suggestions to commence a process to enhance commitments of developing countries on mitigating climate change beyond that included in the convention are misplaced." He stressed that India’s per capita GHG emissions were only a fraction of the world average, and far below that of developed countries.

The head of the Saudi Arabian delegation was just as, if not more, forceful: "We will not agree to any language or code words, such as further action concerning developing country commitments."

These reactions formed the crux of wrangling between developed and developing countries at a contact group meeting negotiating an ‘improved text’. (The ‘improved text’ is a set of guidelines to help industrialising countries prepare their ‘national communications’, or emissions information.) Its formulation was a sticky issue at CoP-8. Developed countries wanted more detailed guidelines. Developing countries, for their part, were wary that stringent guidelines would force them to provide inventoried data on GHG emissions, which could then be used to force commitments on them.

Of course, developing countries had an ace up their sleeve, too. Developed countries could show leadership by meeting their commitments first. To begin with, they could ratify the protocol. Wasn’t it ironic that countries such as Australia, which hadn’t even ratified the protocol, were demanding developing countries to take on commitments?

Developed countries are also yet to meet their commitments on financing and technology transfer. The Special Climate Change Fund and the Least Developed Countries Fund is yet to be made operational. "Access to technology for renewable energy will also help check the emissions of developing countries. I point this out because developed countries are so concerned about the emissions of developing countries," stressed Emily Massawa, a delegate from Kenya.

Although there is a need to review commitments for future commitment periods, the process should start with developed countries. Vajpayee stressed this point. "This would bring additional strain on the already fragile economies of developing countries, and will affect our efforts to achieve higher growth rates and eradicate poverty." It does seem premature to ask countries that do not even have adequate resources to meet their basic human needs to deal with climate change by taking on commitments.