NEW DELHI: Environment ministers from 45 countries will participate in the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Germany between May 2 and 4. This is the

first major ministerial meeting, other than those by negotiating blocs, to be held since the Copenhagen meet on climate change. At the meet, India and the BASIC group will have to resist the efforts by the European Union to push for legally binding outcomes for the UN negotiating process and the attempt set the temperature goal at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh will be attending this ministerial meeting.

The intent of the ministerial is to arrive at a “common understanding of how negotiations should continue up to the Climate Change Conference in Cancun”.

Given the intent of the meeting and the EU’s attempt to regain for itself a key role in climate change negotiations, BASIC countries will work out their strategy for the Petersberg Climate Dialogue during their meeting in Cape Town, which is to be held on April 25 and 26. The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is the outcome of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s proposal for a high level meeting to discuss issues that were left unresolved at Copenhagen. Chancellor Merkel had suggested a high level meeting of a smaller group — for ease of decision taking — in an effort to push forward the negotiation process ahead of the working group meetings under the UNFCCC process in late May.

Sources indicated that Mexico, which holds the presidency of COP 16, had objected to a meeting that would appear to be the continuation of the group of 29 who worked on the Copenhagen Accord draft.

The meeting is now being held under the joint initiative of Mexico and Germany. Mexico’s interest in bridging the trust deficit ensuing from Copenhagen is clear from the invitation letter. "The countries invited represent all interests in the climate process. We attach great importance to a balanced representation and to transparency."

The ministerial will cover all "key building blocks" such as mitigation, adaptation, reducing deforestation, finance and technology co-operation and the broader issue of capacity building. "We aim to present practical forms of climate co-operation in key area. Such concrete examples can provide important input for the ongoing negotiation process." This meeting, which is outside of the UNFCCC’s calender, is informal in nature.

However, the intention is to provide "a good framework", which would allow environment ministers to "discuss pressing issues of international climate protection". In the joint invitation letter, Mexico’s environment minister Juan Quesada and Germany’s environment minister Norbert Rottgen write, "we hope that the Petersberg Climate Dialogue will be able to contribute to making progress in climate negotiations and to practical climate protection co-operation."