Hopes are rising that the Cancun climate change summit could deliver some form of agreement on how to measure, report and verify countries' greenhouse gas emissions, after the EU and India both set out new proposals for an international reporting mechanism.

In what could prove a significant breakthrough India is reportedly proposing that all large economies, including developing nations such as India and China, would report on their greenhouse gas emissions, while industrialised nations would also report on the amount of climate aid they are providing.

The EU similarly set out proposals that would see developing nations face international verification of their reported emission, although the inspection regime would not have the power to issue any form of penalties.

India's plan in particular represents a major breakthrough for the negotiations after measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) emerged as one of the main areas of contention at last year's Copenhagen Summit.

(BusinessGreen)

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