They also agreed to take up the issue that the developed nations under Annex-I make their second commitment period for emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.
The BASIC leaders while agreeing that the last 16th Conference of Parties (CoP-16) at Cancun was a step forward in the global action on climate change and the accord reached provided space for addressing some of the issues, felt that many outstanding issues were left out which need to be discussed.
They noted that despite declarations at Copenhagen and Cancun about the $30 billion Fast Start Fund, practically no significant disbursement has been made the small island developing states (SIDS), African nations and least developed countries (LDCs). Sizeable flow of funds under the Fast Start Fund should begin before discussions on the Green Climate Fund gains momentum.
The two-day 6th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change which concluded in New Delhi on Sunday issue a joint statement pledging to protect the interests of the developing world in the future climate talks. BASIC countries are Brazil, South Africa, India and China. The Minister of Environment of Brazil, Izabella Monica Vieira Teixeira, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs of South Africa, Bomo Edith Edna Molewa, Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh and Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reforms Commission of China, Xie Zhenhua participated in the meeting.
With a view to make BASIC approach more broad based and in line with BASIC-plus agenda, Permanent Representative of Argentina to the UN, Jorge Arturo Arguello, Special Representatie of the Minister of Algeria, H Benhadjoudja Abdelkader and Minister of Housing and Environment of the Maldives, Mohamed Aslam were invited as special guests. Argentina’s participation here is significant as it the Chair of G-77 and China as far climate talks are concerned.
Regarding CoP-16 at Cancun, the joint statement of the BASIC ministers “stressed that the final decision text should accurately reflect the agreements reached by parties on specific issues at the end of the Cancun Conference. O this end, the draft unedited versions of the Cancun Agreements appearing on the UNFCCC website needs to be brought in concordance with the Presidency’s text adopted at Cancun.”
The BASIC ministers exchanged views on several key issues such as global goal and equity, international assessment and review including comparability and accountability of commitments of Annex-I countries and international consultations and analysis of developing country actions. They stressed the need to maintain a balance between the obligations of the developed countries vis-à-vis those of the developing countries. They agreed that the guidelines for MRV for developing countries should be less onerous than the rules for enhanced MRV for developed country parties.
The joint statement of BASIC ministers urged for effective operationalisation of the mechanisms for providing financial and technological support to developing countries. Adaptation issues should be accorded equal priority and the financing of adaptation actions should include a mechanism for loss and damage. They noted that there was an imbalance between the modalities for deciding on adaptation related issues and the modalities for decision in other areas. They stressed that the adaptation and REDD Plus related issues should be addressed in a defined timeframe.
The technology Mechanism created at Cancun should go beyond providing technical assistance and capacity building to enable acceleration of the development and piloting the technologies that are appropriate for developing countries. Further actions should be taken to address the issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and eligibility criteria in order to enhance and accelerate the development and transfer of mitigation and adaptation technologies. The joint statement said and stressed that there was a direct link between the Technology Mechanism and the Financial Mechanism.
The BASIC ministers felt that the issue of phase down of HFC gases, which are not ozone=depleting but have high global warming potential, needs in-depth examination. They were of the view that the provisional agenda for the meetings of the AWG-LCA and AWG-KP at Bangkok should be anchored in the overall framework of the Bali Action Plan.
South Africa will host the next BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change in May 2011 in preparation for the UNFCCC CoP-17/CMP-7 in Durban in December 2-11. Rio=20 Summit will be hosted in Rio in June 2012 w Delhi in October 2012.