Joint Statement Issued at the Conclusion of the Ninth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change, Beijing, China, 1 November 2011

November 5, 2011 in BASIC

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Joint Statement Issued at the Conclusion of the Ninth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change, Beijing, China, 1 November 2011 11/01/2011 Joint Statement Issued at the Conclusion of the Ninth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change Beijing, China, 1 November 2011   1.  The Ninth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Beijing, China from 31 October to 1 November 2011. H.E. Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, H.E. Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, H.E. Mr. Francisco Gaetani, Deputy Minister of Environment of Brazil, H.E.Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Environment and Forests of India, and H.E. Ms. Bomo Edna Edith Molewa, Minister of Water and Environment Affairs of South Africa, as well as H.E. Ms. Maite. Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in her capacity as the incoming COP president attended the meeting. In line with BASIC-plus approach, representatives of Argentina (as chair of the G77 and China), Egypt (as representative of the Arab Group) and Grenada (as chair of Alliance of Small Island States) were invited and participated in the meeting as observers. 2. The BASIC ministers reaffirmed their continued full support to the government of South Africa to make Durban Conference a success in an open, transparent, inclusive and party-driven process. They agreed that Durban should achieve a comprehensive, fair and balanced outcome to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol, in accordance with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and fulfilling the mandate of Bali Roadmap in the two-track process of negotiation. Ministers emphasized the need to implement the Cancun decisions as well as to address the unresolved issues from the Bali Roadmap. They called upon the Conference to clearly establish the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol where the developed country parties to the Kyoto Protocol shall undertake quantified emission reduction commitments. They called for the Durban Conference to accomplish the Bali Action Plan where developed country parties that are not Parties to the Kyoto Protocol to undertake comparable quantified emission reduction commitments under the Convention and for developing country parties to implement enhanced mitigation actions in the context of sustainable development and enabled and supported by finance, technology and capacity building. Ministers stressed the need for early and effective operationalisation of the procedures and mechanisms for adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity building and transparency. 3. Ministers emphasized that the Kyoto Protocol is the cornerstone of the climate regime and its second commitment period is the essential priority for the success of Durban Conference. Ministers underlined that the continuation of the flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol is contingent upon the establishment of quantified emissions reduction commitments by Annex I Parities under the second commitment period. Ministers reiterated their support to work towards the perspective of a comprehensive, ambitious and fair outcome, ensuring the full, effective and sustained implementation of UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol.   4. Noting that while sustainable development and poverty eradication remain urgent challenges and overriding priorities for them, the developing countries, in particular the BASIC countries have pledged ambitious actions to reduce emissions at substantial cost to their economies. Ministers called upon the developed country parties to rise up to their historical responsibilities and undertake ambitious and robust mitigation commitments consistent with science and in accordance with the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Ministers recalled the robust contribution already offered by many developing countries in emission reductions by which these countries have become the active leaders of the global effort against climate change. This has come about despite the responsibility, established under the Convention, that developed countries “take the lead”. 5. Ministers recalled that parties were working under the mandate of the Bali Roadmap to agree on a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol and to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action, now, up to and beyond 2012 and reaffirmed the need to focus on this mandate. 6. In this connection, they stressed that deliberations and discussions for the further implementation of the Convention beyond 2020 must be firmly based on the principles and provisions of the Convention and consistent with the latest findings of science as per the forthcoming 5th Assessment Report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In this context, they noted the importance of the Review process which is to be completed by 2015. 7. Ministers reaffirmed that any outcome on shared vision needs to be firmly based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities. 8. Ministers underscored that financing is one of the pressing priorities at the Durban Conference. Ministers welcomed the work of the Transitional Committee and envisaged the consideration and approval of its draft report by the COP. Ministers agreed that the Durban Conference should decide to initiate the operationalisation of the Green Climate Fund with accountability to and under the guidance of COP, ensuring adequate financial support for developing countries. Therefore, they urged developed countries to capitalize the Green Climate Fund from their public financial resources as soon as possible. 9. Ministers were of the view that developed countries should fulfill their  commitment of providing US$ 30 billion as fast start funding, ensuring new and additional funding and transparent information of its performance. Ministers reiterated the importance of ensuring the accounting of finance on the fast start funding is transparent, measurable, reportable and verifiable. They requested developed countries to submit information on the fast start funding to the UNFCCC secretariat in a common and comparable format to strengthen mutual trust between developed and developing countries. This could serve as the first step in more accurate reporting on long-term financing, generating information to assess progress towards the collective financial commitments by Annex I Parties.   10. Ministers urged developed countries to honor their commitment to provide US$100 billion per year by 2020 in a predictable manner with specific measures and clear roadmap to be adopted in Durban, ensuring that there is no funding gap from 2013 to 2020. This funding should mainly come from public financial resource and private and other alternative resources of funding should only be supplementary. 11. Ministers emphasized that adaptation is the most urgent task in developing countries and supported the African Group’s position on prioritizing this issue in Durban. They called for immediate operationalisation of the Adaptation Committee, which should contribute to adaptation policy development and implementation of adaptation actions in developing countries following the requests of developing countries and respecting a country-driven approach. Ministers highlighted that the Adaptation Committee should establish effective links with the finance and technology mechanisms to support adaptation actions for all developing countries, particularly SIDs, LDCs and Africa. 12. Ministers welcomed with appreciation the functioning of the Technology Executive Committee and the progress on the set-up of the Technology Centre and Network. They urged a clear definition of the relationship between the two bodies and the link between the technology mechanism and the finance mechanism. Ministers highlighted the need to address the IPR issue properly and the early operation of the technology mechanism to advance climate-friendly technology transfer to developing countries. 13. Ministers stressed that the Review must be conducted in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Convention itself. They stressed that the Review must include a review of the adequacy of global temperature goal and effectiveness of ambitious quantified emission reduction commitments by Annex I Parties and the provision of finance and technology support by developed countries to enable developing countries to implement enhanced mitigation and adaptation actions under the UNFCCC. 14. Ministers underlined the importance of the Indian proposal to include the issues of equity, trade and intellectual property right (IPR) in the provisional agenda of the COP17. They agreed that discussions on these important issues which are crucial to many developing countries, would contribute to a comprehensive and balanced outcome at Durban. 15. Ministers emphasized the need to address emissions from international aviation and maritime transport in a multilateral context and in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. They highlighted that unilateral measures on climate change, such as the inclusion of emissions from international aviation in the EU-ETS, would violate the principles and provisions of the Convention and jeopardize the effort of international cooperation in addressing climate change. 16. Ministers received reports on the progress made by the BASIC experts group on Equitable Access to Sustainable Development and supported the publication of the paper as a contribution to the scientific body of knowledge. They also received reports on common accounting rules for emission reductions by Annex I Parties, lower carbon development strategies and common reporting format for accounting of finance by Annex I Parties. Ministers considered their work would usefully inform the negotiations under the Bali Roadmap. Ministers decided that the BASIC experts group would continue to meet in parallel with BASIC ministerial meetings. 17. Ministers stressed their dedication towards consolidating and strengthening the unity of G77 and China and decided to continue to enhance transparency and inclusiveness through the BASIC–plus approach. Ministers appreciated the role played by South Africa as the incoming Presidency and its efforts to achieve a successful outcome in Durban. They reaffirm their determination to work with all parties to Save Tomorrow Today. 18. Ministers welcomed the offer of India to host the Tenth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change in the first quarter of 2012. ***** http://www.indianembassy.org.cn/newsDetails.aspx?NewsId=267