BRICS warn developed nations on climate change
September 17, 2013, 6:37 am

BRICS reminded developed countries that their historical responsibility for climate change is un-evadable [Getty Images]

“Responsibility for climate change … rests on all countries, differentiated according to the extent to which they have contributed historically to the urgent problem which we now face, taking into account national circumstances, capabilities, population, development needs, in the context of equitable access to sustainable development,” said a joint statement by BRICS.

The joint statement was issued containing the resolutions agreed to by the five countries at the two-day 16th BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change, which concluded Monday in Foz do Iguacu, southern Brazil.

BRICS reiterated their warning to developed countries that their historical responsibility for climate change is un-evadable.

Developed nations have been reluctant to provide financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing countries to help them counter climate change.

BRICS have argued that developed countries should create a global mechanism whereby existing technologies that can make a significant change in meeting challenges be diffused as rapidly and widely as possible.

BRICS announced on Monday that the bloc of five would strengthen cooperation to fight climate change through a series of joint resolutions.

BRICS asserted they were “fully committed to the successful outcome of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference”, to be held in Warsaw in November.

They pledged to back the Polish government’s efforts to ” achieve a comprehensive and balanced outcome in Warsaw, in an open and transparent, inclusive … process.”

The five countries also agreed on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), a set of commitments on global warming that were established at the 2011 UN Climate Change Conference, in Durban, South Africa.

The BRICS ministers said the ADP’s process and outcome should be guided by and be in full compliance with all the principles and provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC).

Representatives from Argentina, Fiji, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela also attended the meeting.

The BRICS stressed the need for “a balanced approach between all pillars of the Durban Platform — mitigation, adaptation, finance, capacity-building, technology development and transfer, transparency of action and support,” saying that the ADP’s outcome should not rely solely on mitigation, but take all other factors into consideration as well.

The Durban platform is expected to be signed in 2015 and take effect in 2020.

The next BRICS Ministerial Meeting will be held in China in the fourth quarter of 2013.

With inputs from Agencies