BASIC nations 'very happy' with Cancun texts: Ramesh

Betwa Sharma
Cancun, Dec 11 (PTI) India on Saturday said that the
BASIC countries were "very happy" with the two draft texts
prepared by climate negotiators from almost 200 nations on the
Kyoto Protocol and a long-term action to combat climate
change.
Following the circulation of two texts, still remain
to be adopted by the 193 countries in some formal manner,
Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that the
outcome was "acceptable" to India.
"We have a Cancun agreement," he said, noting that the
BASIC countries were "very happy" with the text.
The BASIC countries (BASIC or G4) are a bloc of four
large developing countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and
China – formed by an agreement on 28 November 2009.
Over the past two weeks, there has been concern that
the talks might fail since Japan and Russia have said that
they will not commit to the second period of the Kyoto
Protocol, which is the only treaty on climate change that puts
legally binding cuts on developed countries.
In the last few days, negotiators have struggled to
formulate text that accommodates the desire of the majority of
developing countries to continue with the Kyoto Protocol, and
also not to force Japan and Russia into a second commitment
period.
The first commitment period, which expires at the end
of 2012, requires industrialized countries to reduce their
greenhouse gases by 5 per cent from 1990 levels.
The text currently calls for the parties to act so
that "there is no gap between the first and second commitment
periods."
Observers here have interpreted the text differently -
some groups have said that it is a "weak" text that will
eventually lead to the death of Kyoto Protocol, while others
look at it workable "compromise" for the moment.
Observers also said that while the two texts may be
considered a significant political step in moving the
negotiations forward, they were not really helpful in
combating climate change and the compromises were not rooted
in what the science demanded.
"It operationalised the Copenhagen Accord and
considering the Copenhagen Accord pledges are not adequate
this is disastrous for the environment," said Chandra Bhushan
from the Centre of Science and Environment.
The reaction to the text of the long-term plan to
combat climate change has also been mixed.
Ramesh said that many of India's contribution had been
incorporated in the text including the International
Consultation and Analysis, which is a transparency mechanism
to review whether developing countries are carrying out their
domestic mitigation actions.

Ramesh pointed out that under the current texts
developed countries were subject to stricter scrutiny on their
mitigation cuts than developing countries.
The minister also noted that there is no "peaking
year" mentioned in the draft and there was no mention of
global emission goal set for 2050.
"Cancun represents an important step forward," he
said.
On the other hand, Bhushan pointed out that the lack
of these two measures for developed countries spelled doom for
the environment.
Discussion on the two texts in a meeting with all the
countries is set to begin shortly and will extend late into
the night.
Bolivia, however, criticized the draft as too weak and
accused other nations of trying to isolate it at the UN
climate change conference.
"This document doesn't take into account Bolivia's
proposals," climate negotiator Pablo Solon said.
"Bolivia isn't ready to sign up to a document which
means a rise in temperature which will put more humans in a
near-death situation," Solon said, charging it could allow a
rise of more than four degrees Celsius. PTI BS
HMI