Four emerging economies on Thursday have asked Denmark –– chair of the Copenhagen climate conference –– to immediately start the two-track negotiation process under the aegis of the United Nations so that a legally-binding climate accord could be formalised for adoption at the Mexico meet.
On behalf of the BASIC countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China – the request was sent by Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to the Danish minister of climate and energy Lykke Friis on Thursday, reliable sources told Deccan Herald.
The request was made to Denmark because it was the President of 15th Conference of Parties under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) that met at Copenhagen. Till the time Mexico officially takes over the presidency for the 16th conference, Denmark will continue to be the leader of the international climate talks.
India asked Denmark to schedule the meetings of the parties in the two negotiating tracks in such a way so that at least five meetings can be held before the Mexico summit in December.
With a mid-year meeting scheduled in June, one or two rounds of discussions would provide a guidance on how the talks are going on and what is the possibility of arriving at a consensus.
The two tracks are on long term cooperation and Kyoto Protocol aiming to find out ways to bring the US on-board and finding out emission cut targets for rich nations after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.
However, at Copenhagen, rich nations kickstarted a new initiative to push the controversial Copenhagen accord as the basis for future climate negotiations. Last Sunday, the BASIC group categorically rejected such a move, asking Denmark and UN to restart the two-track negotiation process.
Interestingly, a day after the BASIC meeting here, the UNFCCC came out with a clarification reaffirming the non-legal nature of the Copenhagen Accord and making it amply clear that it is only a political document, which if the nations want can take note of.
