15th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change: outcomes

The 15th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Cape Town, South Africa, late last week. The outcomes from the meeting were released in a joint statement on Friday, 28 June 2013. Particular emphasis was placed on the role of developed countries in taking the lead in tackling climate change.

1 Jul 2013

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre) and the BASIC Ministers at the Durban climate talks (Source: UNFCCC)

Representing Brazil, SA, India and China; Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China; Edna Molewa, minister of Water and Environmental Affairs of South Africa; T.S. Tirumurti, joint secretary, Ministry of External Affairs of India; and Ambassador Andre Correa do Lago, director of the Department of the Environment and Special Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, participated in the meeting.

Summary of outcomes: the ministers:

Welcomed the progress made at the recent UNFCCC meeting in Bonn under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP).
Reaffirmed that ADP is not a process to renegotiate, rewrite or reinterpret the Convention; the 2015 agreement should address the adaptation, mitigation, finance and technology development and transfer in a balanced, comprehensive and holistic manner.
Emphasised that the Convention has provided the structure of the future agreement, defining the differentiated commitments and actions for developed and developing countries - developed countries taking the lead in tackling the climate change challenge, in accordance with their historical responsibilities and as demanded by science.
Reaffirmed that the 2015 agreement shall be based on science and the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, as well as the promotion of sustainable development; mitigation and adaptation actions of developing countries should be enabled by the provision of adequate finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building support from developed countries.
Recognised that the roundtables and workshops enabled Parties to enhance their understanding about each other's positions on issues related to both the workstreams of the ADP, but welcomed the call for a more balanced, focused, structured and formal mode of work on the platform.
Stressed that pre-2020 ambition shall primarily be achieved through the implementation of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and the outcome of the Bali Action Plan in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Convention.
Noted the ambition gap between what developed country parties have pledged and what is required by science and their historical responsibility, and called for the urgent ratification of the amendments to the KP establishing the second commitment period. They reemphasised that the Annex I Parties' lack of ambition has the effect of transferring the responsibilities of the developed countries to the developing countries, and would impact the post 2020 period.
Noted that the mitigation contributions by developing country parties is much greater than that by developed country parties who should take the lead in combating climate change.
Called for the Warsaw COP to enhance confidence building amongst parties through the full implementation of previous decisions, and the full operationalisation of mechanisms established under the Convention. They underlined that full implementation of the existing decisions is a sine qua non for the success of the 2015 agreement.
Reaffirmed the importance of multilateralism in addressing climate change in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Convention, and reiterated their strong opposition to any unilateral measures on international civil aviation and shipping, as well as similar intentions regarding other sectors.
Emphasised that HFCs are greenhouse gases covered under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol and shall accordingly be addressed in accordance with its principles and provisions. They agreed to work multilaterally to find an agreed way forward on this issue.
Considered further work by experts on the equitable access to sustainable development and encouraged experts to continue their discussions, taking into account views expressed by ministers in this session.
Considering adaptation and its role in the 2015 agreement, indicated that commitments should not be limited to mitigation, but include adaptation as a matter of equal priority. The ministers mandated the BASIC experts to engage with a wider range of experts on adaptation and its role in the negotiations to elaborate this thinking.
Took note of the report from experts on their considerations on the 2013 -15 Review, including the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Groups for fifth assessment report as a primary source of information together with other relevant information in particular these reflect actions on the ground. They were of the view that technical inputs into the 2015 Agreement are crucial, and must reflect balance of the adequacy of the long-term global goal, overall progress made towards meeting the long-term global goal, including the implementation of the commitments under the Convention as well as information from developed and developing country experts.
Underlined their commitment to the unity of the BASIC countries. They stressed the utmost importance of the unity of G77 and China, and reaffirmed the commitment of BASIC countries to strengthen it. Ministers underlined the urgency of combating climate change, and reiterated their continued efforts to enhance South-South cooperation.