Maintain BASIC unity, says Prime Minister

The grouping will work out targets it has to submit under Copenhagen Accord by January 31

January 24, 2010 02:57 am | Updated 02:57 am IST - NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called for maintaining the unity and solidarity of the four emerging economies — Brazil, South Africa, India and China.

He was addressing the Environment Ministers of these four major economies, who called on him here, on the eve of a meeting for finalising these countries’ future course of action ahead of the January 31 deadline for conveying their stand on the Copenhagen Accord.

Carlos Minc, Brazil Minister of Environment; Buyelwa Sonjica, South Africa Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs; and Xie Zhenhua, Vice-Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission of China, will meet Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh on Sunday.

The Prime Minister’s Office described it as “courtesy call.”

Besides chalking out a climate change strategy, the BASIC members will work out the targets and actions the grouping has to submit under the Copenhagen Accord by January 31. India and the three other BASIC nations brokered a deal with the U.S. to take note of the Accord. The Accord did not set binding targets for a cut in greenhouse gas emissions. However, it suggested passage of a binding deal at the next round of climate talks in Mexico.

While 29 countries, including India, accepted the Copenhagen Accord, it was opposed by several lesser developed countries, including small island nations, and Sunday’s meeting is expected to decide how to take them on board.

Binding pact

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chairperson R.K. Pachauri has expressed the hope that the meeting will provide some direction for a binding pact at the climate change summit in Mexico scheduled for December.

“They [BASIC countries] should provide some direction because it is not just enough to come up with the Copenhagen Accord and leave it suspended.” “The Accord needs to be used as a basis by which we can get a firm and binding agreement at the Mexico meeting,” he told reporters here.

Mr. Pachauri called for a clear plan by which the “BASIC nations involve the other countries in agreeing with the basic elements of the Accord, including a two degree Celsius limit in temperature.” “One of the good features of the Accord is that it ended with an agreement to limit temperature to a maximum of two degree Celsius, which is driven by the science that we provided in the IPCC’s fourth assessment report,” he said. “I expect the BASIC members to involve all the left-out countries and come up with a very clear strategy and the timetable by which they will do that.”

However, he favoured extending the U.N. deadline for submitting the action and emission targets. “If the U.N. decides to extend the deadline, I think it’s a practical necessity. The countries are at this stage not ready to provide pledges voluntarily or otherwise.”

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