BASIC Bloc demand second Kyoto commitment
The ministerial council of the BASIC Bloc countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China call for a legal global accord to be completed by COP17 to be held in Durban in December.
The seventh BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change took place near Durban from 28 to 29 May. The meeting was held in preparation for COP17.
In a joint statement the group said its goal was to achieve a comprehensive and balanced outcome in COP17 and CMP7 in Durban.
The council expressed its view that a second commitment to the Kyoto Protocol - which ends in 2012 - is essential to long term advancements in providing a global, legally binding agreement:
"Ministers felt that a legally binding outcome on long-term cooperative action under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol, should be concluded at Cancun, Mexico in 2010, or at the latest in South Africa by 2011.”
Ministers emphasised finding solutions to disbursement of finance to the Least Developed Countries (LCDs) in order to “enhance trust” and to further commitment by these countries.
In the joint statement ministers signaled: "A step-change is required and incremental progress on its own will not raise the level of ambition to the extent needed to avoid dangerous climate change and impacts on poor countries and communities.”
The group called for an early implementation of the institutions established under of the Cancun agreements: “Including the Adaptation Committee, the Technology Executive Committee, Centre and Network, the registry, the work programme on the Response Measure Forum and the Green Climate Fund.”
A new proposal was made to create a fund between BASIC Bloc countries to encourage further research for evidence on climate change issues. The analysis would be used to “strengthen the unity of G77 and China”, institutional collaboration.
The BASIC group, formed in 2009 during COP16 in the Copenhagen. They aim to “link national and international climate policy by enhancing and strengthening institutional capacity on climate change for Brazil, China, India and South Africa.”
The ministry expanded on agreements made at the last meeting in New Delhi (2010), in the run up to the Cancun summit.The main subject was the ten-billion dollar early flow of fast-start finance pledged in 2010.
Greenpeace Africa welcomed the bloc’s call for commitment and stated that the key issue remains funding in order for the poorest countries to tackle the “devastating impact of climate change on the African continent.”
In the joint statement ministers reiterated that a legal agreement on the second period of the Kyoto Protocol is “absolutely critical for the success of the Durban Conference.”
Image: Chris Devers | Flickr
