Brazil, SA, India & China assert BASIC status

NEW DELHI: At its third meeting in Cape Town, the BASIC group (comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China) sought to re-establish its developing country credentials. The four advanced-developing countries made it clear that their forum was firmly anchored in the developing country bloc of G-77 and China.

The BASIC group trotted out the long-held positions of developing countries on issues like common but differentiated responsibility, historical responsibility and Kyoto Protocol.

At the same time, in an effort to counter the perception that the BASIC was charting a course separate from the G-77, the environment ministers floated the concept of “BASIC plus”. The BASIC plus approach would allow for consultations with other countries and groups “in order to facilitate the resolution of contentious issues in the negotiations”.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the details of the “four plus” approach will be worked out by the Rio meet of the group.

The BASIC ministers have acknowledged that the non-participation of the US in a climate deal presents the biggest problem. Unlike the other industrialised countries, the United States is not party to the Kyoto Protocol, which makes it mandatory for developed countries to take on emission reduction targets.

Not legally binding the US into an international climate agreement in effect means that it does not need to make “comparable efforts” to reduce emissions.