BASIC countries put pressure on rich nations to make good on their funding commitments
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Monday, 01 February 2010 16:41
The BASIC Group countries (Brazil, China, India and South Africa) held their second meeting of Ministers in New Delhi on 24 January 2010. Earlier, the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh met with the four Ministers on the evening of January 23rd. The four nations agreed that rich nations should provide $10bn in climate funds at once “as proof of their commitment” to tackle climate change…
The Ministers who participated in the meeting were H.E. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reforms Commission from China, H.E. Carlos Minc, Minister for Environment from Brazil, H.E. Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs from South Africa and H.E. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Environment and Forests from India. The current G-77 Chair – Yemen – had also been invited but could not attend because of other commitments.
Highlighting the important contribution of their nations in the finalisation of the Copenhagen Accord, the four Ministers called for regular meetings ahead of the COP-16. They emphasised that funding, logistics and other procedural issues should not be allowed to become a constraint in the convening of these meetings which are essential to make progress towards an agreement at COP-16.
The members of the BASIC Group, whose CO2 emissions are among the fastest rising in the world, have already announced a series of voluntary mitigation actions for 2020 that they were due to communicate to the UNFCCC by Sunday 31 January. The bloc of four has issued a joint statement calling for the early flow from richer nations of the pledged $10bn in 2010 with focus on the least developed countries, as proof of their commitment to urgently address the global challenge of climate change. "We have sent a very powerful symbol to the world of our intentions", Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said at a joint press conference after seven hours of talks.
The Ministers agreed to meet at the Ministerial level every quarter, and welcomed the offer of South Africa to host the next meeting of the BASIC Ministerial Group in late-April 2010. They also agreed to coordinate their positions closely as part of climate change discussions in other forums, and emphasised the importance of working closely with other members of Group of -77 in order to ensure an ambitious and equitable outcomes in Mexico through a transparent process. According to them, at least five UN meetings should take place between now and December’s climate summit in Mexico.
The position expressed by China, India, Brazil and South Africa on the 24 January echoes the proposition of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to organize monthly meetings between the 28 countries that negotiated the Copenhagen Accord on the final day of the conference. It would be necessary to better prepare the forthcoming international climate negotiations, he argued. For its part, ENDS Europe reported that Angela Merkel’s climate advisor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is thinking about “forming a new coalition in the climate talks with India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and African nations”.
Highlighting the important contribution of their nations in the finalisation of the Copenhagen Accord, the four Ministers called for regular meetings ahead of the COP-16. They emphasised that funding, logistics and other procedural issues should not be allowed to become a constraint in the convening of these meetings which are essential to make progress towards an agreement at COP-16.
The members of the BASIC Group, whose CO2 emissions are among the fastest rising in the world, have already announced a series of voluntary mitigation actions for 2020 that they were due to communicate to the UNFCCC by Sunday 31 January. The bloc of four has issued a joint statement calling for the early flow from richer nations of the pledged $10bn in 2010 with focus on the least developed countries, as proof of their commitment to urgently address the global challenge of climate change. "We have sent a very powerful symbol to the world of our intentions", Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said at a joint press conference after seven hours of talks.
The Ministers agreed to meet at the Ministerial level every quarter, and welcomed the offer of South Africa to host the next meeting of the BASIC Ministerial Group in late-April 2010. They also agreed to coordinate their positions closely as part of climate change discussions in other forums, and emphasised the importance of working closely with other members of Group of -77 in order to ensure an ambitious and equitable outcomes in Mexico through a transparent process. According to them, at least five UN meetings should take place between now and December’s climate summit in Mexico.
The position expressed by China, India, Brazil and South Africa on the 24 January echoes the proposition of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to organize monthly meetings between the 28 countries that negotiated the Copenhagen Accord on the final day of the conference. It would be necessary to better prepare the forthcoming international climate negotiations, he argued. For its part, ENDS Europe reported that Angela Merkel’s climate advisor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is thinking about “forming a new coalition in the climate talks with India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and African nations”.
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