The group of four major emerging economies — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — on Sunday expressed their intention to communicate information on their voluntary mitigation actions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by January 31.
This decision was taken at the second Ministerial-level meeting of the BASIC group of countries here. The BASIC members have already announced a series of voluntary mitigation actions for 2020, with India declaring to reduce its greenhouse gas emission intensity up to 25 per cent. The UNFCCC has asked the countries to convey by January 31 their stand on the legally non-binding Copenhagen Accord arrived at in the Danish capital last month.
The Ministers re-emphasised their commitment to working together with other countries — particularly the G-77 — to ensure a consensus at the Conference of Parties at Mexico later this year. They underscored the centrality of the UNFCCC process and the decision of the parties to carry forward the negotiations on two tracks — Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the UNFCCC and the Ad Hoc Working Group on further emission reduction commitments for Annexe I parties under the Kyoto Protocol in 2010 leading up to COP-16 at Mexico.
Addressing a joint press conference after the meeting, the Ministers said it had been decided to create a fund to help the small island state countries, the least developed countries and the vulnerable nations apart from helping them technologically. “The amount of contributions will be decided at the next meeting of the group in South Africa,” Minister of Environment from Brazil Carlos Minc said. The resources would “overcome” the $10 billion committed by the developed countries at Copenhagen.
Vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission from China, Xie Zhenhua, said the BASIC group’s objectives were consistent with the interests of the developing countries. “BASIC will take the lead in...