'Only Indian minister Ramesh was forthright on climate change'

Fakir Hassen

Johannesburg, Apr 27 (PTI) Indian Minister of
Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh was the only country
representative who was clear on his stand that he did not
foresee a breakthrough in the next climate summit at Cancun, a
daily said Tuesday.

Ramesh was the only one from the four countries
represented at a meeting in Cape Town at the weekend who was
forthright in his answers, the Afrikaans daily Beeld said
here.
The paper was commenting on Ramesh’s view that it
was unlikely for an agreement to be reached at the next
climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico in December.
The daily said the other ministers, from Brazil,
South Africa and China, were "dancing on eggs" when asked
about their expectations of negotiations in December during a
media conference following the third ministerial meeting of
environment ministers from the BASIC countries.
"Only the Indian representative said unequivocally
that he did not foresee that a breakthrough would be reached
in Cancun," Beeld said, adding that South African minister for
water affairs and the environment, Buyelwa Sonjica, had
conceded that a delay in any agreement would have a negative
effect on developing countries.
The agreement was signed in Copenhagen last year by
30 countries, but has been rejected by several others.
"But we must not be hasty with an agreement.
Economic growth cannot be disadvantaged by that," Sonjica
said.
The BASIC group aims to address the concerns of the
developing world in the face of resistance from developed
countries such as the US to sign an agreement. PTI FH
KAB