Cancun pact no proxy for Bali roadmap: Basic nations

After a step forward at Cancun, the global climate talks is heading backwards with the environment ministers from Basic group agreeing that Cancun Agreements cannot be a "substitute" for the Bali Road Map. Chetan Chauhan reports.

Updated on: Feb 27, 2011, 23:48:07 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

After a step forward at Cancun, the global climate talks is heading backwards with the environment ministers from Basic group (India, China, Brazil and South Africa) agreeing on Saturday that Cancun Agreements cannot be a “substitute” for the Bali Road Map.

“There are number of issues not addressed in the Cancun agreements which needs to be brought back on the table,” environment minister Jairam Ramesh said, after holding talks for two days with the ministers from other Basic countries in New Delhi.

A joint statement issued afterwards, reflected the concern, saying: “The Bali Road Map must, therefore, continue to be the template for future work of the parties”.

The issues - equity, intellectual property rights and trade - were what Basic ministers want back on the negotiating table before the next climate conference in Durban, South Africa, in December 2011.

The group felt these issues have not been suitably addressed in the Cancun Agreements and revised text for the meeting of negotiators in Bangkok this April should reflect them. “There are also some contradictions in the draft on LCA (Long Term Cooperative Action on climate change) for Bangkok meeting which needs to be corrected,” Ramesh said.

The ministers also pointed out that atmosphere at Durban would be clouded if the least development countries and island nations do get money through fast track finance as promised at the Copehnagen climate conference in 2009.

“Only negligible amount of money has come,” said Brazilian environment minister IMV Teixeira.

What has peeved the Basic nations is three billion US dollars that United States and Europe has shown as bilateral flow of funds to India and Brazil, respectively as part of fast track finance.

The ministers said second commitment period for Kyoto Protocol, commitment review mechanism for developed and developing countries and strong emission reduction targets for the developed world were also key for any agreement at Durban.

Agreeing that there were differing views on many issues, Ramesh said it was because of different perspective of each of the Basic nations on per capita income, sources of green house gases and level of economic development.

South Africa wants 2025 as a peaking year for emissions, which is opposed by India and China. Brazil has been seeking funds to reduce deforestation whereas other Basic countries want money for protecting forests.

There are also differing views on aspirational goal of limiting the temperature rise with South Africa backing African demand of restricting temperature rise to 2 degree Celsius whereas others want it to be two degrees by 2050.

The ministers agreed that non-government experts from Basic countries would work on a synthesis paper on equity for sustainable development.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.