BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) countries on Monday outlined three issues that were non-negotiable and this included the necessity of a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol. The outcome at Cancun must be built on an agreement on a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, they declared.
Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the other two issues were, need to accelerate disbursement under the fast-start finance programme in the form of new and additional resources through a multilaterally supervised mechanism and recognition of the importance of continued dialogue on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) as part of the technology development and transfer issues.
The BASIC had stated that they do not want funds under the fast-start finance programme; that it should go to smaller countries in dire straits. Mr. Ramesh said a successful global effort on climate change must have the United States on board as it was the single largest emitter of greenhouse gases and that was one of the challenges here.
Even on the International Consultation and Analysis (ICA) proposal made by Mr. Ramesh, there seems to be an agreement among the BASIC, though initially China initially did not play the ball. India and China have been talking on this issue and, on Monday, Chinese Minister and delegation head Xie Zhenhua said a consensus was achieved. However, a lot of technical and financial support was needed for this and that the process should not be intrusive, but be non-punitive and facilitate the building of trust.
Given that the ICA was voluntary, the frequency of reporting emissions should be on a par with what the Annexe 1 or (developed) countries would do as part of the Measurement Reporting and Verification (MRV), he said. China was keen on continuing with a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol.
It had budgeted 200 billion yuan on reducing per capita energy consumption and another 2,000 billion yuan on various energy efficiency measures in the next five-year plan.
Mr. Ramesh called for an honest accounting of the $30 billion proposed in the fast-start finance programme. He said at least $10 billion must be committed by 2011.
