Cancun Agreements no substitute for Bali Road Map: BASIC

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) Just months after the Cancun
talks, India and other BASIC nations on Sunday said that
Cancun Agreements were not a "substitute" for the Bali Road
Map and pledged to make efforts to bring the issues charted
out in it to the mainstream of global climate change
negotiations.
"The Bali Road Map must, therefore, continue to be the
template for future work of the parties," said a joint
statement issued at a conclusion of sixth BASIC ministerial
meeting on climate change. BASIC is a bloc comprising Brazil,
South Africa, India and China.
"There are a number of issues in the Bali Road Map
that are not present in the Cancun Agreements (of December
last year)and the BASIC Group of countries will make every
effort to bring these issues back into the mainstream of the
global climate change negotiations," Environment Minister
Jairam Ramesh told reporters after the meeting.
He said the meeting has identified three particular
issues-- Equity, Intellectual Property Rights and Trade.
"These are the three very important issues in the
BASIC quartret and it will our endeavour to bring this and
other Bali Road Map issues back into the mainstream of the
negotiating agenda," Ramesh said.
Explaining the details of negotiations, Ramesh said,
"We need to continue the negotiations in 2011 leading up to
Durban in a sprit of inclusiveness and transparency.
"Many issues on which we need further clarity. Two
most critical issues are of second commitment period of the
Kyoto protocol and the issue of Fast Track Finance," he said.
Zhenhua Xie, Chinese Vice Minister of the National
Development and Reform Commission and Special Representative
on Climate Change, said, "We are going to safeguard the
interests of developing countries to promote over all climate
change negotiations' process.
"The BASIC group will play a very active and
constructive role in promoting over all process," he said.
Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Monica Vieria
Teixeira said, "We will work together to support our agenda.
Next two years will be very cucial for sustainable development
agenda."
South Africa's Environment Minister Bomo Edith Edna
Molewa said, "Regarding Agreements arrived at Cancun our
emphasis will be on the issues of finance, technology and
capacity building etc. We have to emphasis on finance to avoid
some challenges which might arise at Durban."
India had invited representatives from three other
countries – Argentina, Algeria and Maldives –to the Delhi
meeting as these countries represent important regional groups
within the "G-77 and China" bloc in the climate change
negotiations. PTI