India to push for BASIC draft with China, Brazil and South Africa at Copenhagen
02 Dec 2009
India hopes that the BASIC draft it has the drawn up in association with China, Brazil and South Africa would form part of the negotiations at the climate change summit at Copenhagen in December where the bloc will undertake take joint efforts to ensure that the voice of developing nations is not crowded out by the US and EU.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday in the Parliament, Jairam Ramesh, MoS (independent charge), forests and environment said India has been stressing that the Kyoto Protocol could not be dumped as was being suggested by European nations. He added that any global cap for emissions had to integrate clear responsibilities for mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology.
He added that unlike China India was not announcing any emission caps and that India has an action plan to address climate change but there were no legally binding commitments.
Ramesh also pointed out that though the Chinese and Indian positions coincided to a certain extent there were fundamental differences in their emissions. He added that China's CO2 emission per unit of GSP stood at 2.8 tonnes while India's was 1 tonne.
China and India have acknowledged the gravity of the climate change issue and have emphasised that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol are the most appropriate framework for addressing climate change.
They have also reaffirmed the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, in particular that developed countries should take the lead, continue reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and provide financial resources, technology transfer and capacity building support to developing countries.
