During talks in New Delhi on Sunday, India, China, Brazil and South Africa agreed to submit formally their own voluntary carbon emission control plans to the United Nations by January 31.
At the climate summit in Copenhagen in December, all the big developed and developing countries agreed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Countries were then given until January 31 to submit their national goals on specific targets. The UN appeared to cast doubt last week on whether this deadline would be met.
However, the decision by the four countries, who call themselves the Basic group, to meet the deadline will help to put the frayed negotiations back on track.
Buyelwa Sonjica, South Africa’s minister for water and environment, said the four countries felt they had a “leadership obligation” to report as per the original deadline.
Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister, also called on developed countries to show their sincerity in combating climate change by fulfilling quickly their pledge to give $10bn (€7.07bn, £6.19bn) to the most vulnerable states to cope with global warming.
FT-Quote: China appeared to cast doubts on Sunday on the scientific consensus on the underlying causes of global warming, with a senior official saying that Beijing had an “open attitude” towards what he described as “disputes in the scientific community” on the issue.
“There is a view that climate change is caused by cyclical trends in nature itself,” Xie Zhenhua, vice-chairman of China’s National Development and Reforms Commission, told a press conference in New Delhi. “We have to keep an open attitude.”
via FT.com / Global Economy – China admits ‘open attitude’ over warming.
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