BASIC Countries Urge Developed Nations to Adhere to Paris Agreement to Fight Climate Change

New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) BASIC countries have urged the developed countries to take urgent action to close gaps and provide support to developing nations as a part of the commitment under the Paris agreement on climate change.

A joint statement issued by Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC) on Saturday stated that global climate action should promote climate justice by recognising the fundamental equality of all people in accessing economic growth and sustainable development.  

"Ministers emphasized the faithful and comprehensive implementation of the Paris Agreement, in particular of its goals and principles, and underlined the importance of a full, effective and sustained implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its Kyoto Protocol and its Paris Agreement, in accordance with the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of different national circumstances, as well as the nationally- determined nature of the Paris Agreement," a press note from the ministry of environment said.

The BASIC ministers reaffirmed and emphasized the need for people's participation and climate friendly lifestyles for addressing the challenge of climate change acknowledging that the Paris Agreement embodies and calls for sustainable lifestyles and consumption patterns.

"The group highlighted the substantial gaps not only in mitigation, but also in adaptation and support provided by developed countries to developing countries in the pre-2020 period. They stressed that these gaps should not be transferred to the post-2020 period to present additional burdens on developing countries.

"They urged developed countries to take urgent actions to close the gaps, including revisiting their targets on mitigation under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, and fulfilling their commitments of providing support to developing countries," a ministry official said. 

The ministers highlighted that developing countries, including BASIC countries, notwithstanding the multiple challenges including food security, poverty eradication, and insufficient and uneven progress of domestic development, have been implementing ambitious climate action based on their national circumstances in the context of sustainable development, and have achieved great progress with significant contribution to global efforts in combating climate change.

The 29th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Beijing, China, on October 25-26, 2019.

The meeting was chaired by L I Ganjie, Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, attended by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and ministers from other member countries.

According to the statement, India has already achieved 21 per cent reduction in emission intensity of GDP in 2014 compared to 2005 levels, thereby achieving its pre-2020 voluntary target.

The BASIC ministers underscored that as developing countries are the most adversely affected by climate change, adaptation is the key imperative but is neglected with an imbalanced allocation of resources compared to mitigation.

They reiterated the need for balanced allocation in terms of support provided by developed countries, including through Green Climate Fund.

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