Port of Spain: Pushing for a legally binding substantive outcome at the Copenhagen climate change meet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said India is willing to sign on to an ambitious global target for emission reduction or limiting temperature increase if it is accompanied by an equitable burden-sharing paradigm.

He denounced attempts by some developed nations to junk the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions and said climate change “is becoming the pretext for pursuing protectionist policies under a green label” which would be rejected by India and other developing nations

In a strongly-worded intervention at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM) here, Singh said, “it is unfortunate that the global discourse on climate change has become enmeshed with arguments about maintaining economic competitiveness or level-playing fields.”

Singh disapproved of attempts by some developed countries to lower expectations from the December Summit on Climate Change, saying the negotiations should not be pre-empted and effort should be made to achieve as much convergence as possible.

“If the outcome at Copenhagen diminishes rather than enhances the implementation of the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) in respect of the specific components of mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology, it would represent a serious setback, no matter how we seek to characterize this result,” the Prime Minister told the Summit of 53 former British colonies.