A Fair, Ambitious and Binding Deal

India and all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are bound by its ultimate objective: the ‘stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.’

The culmination of negotiations needs to be expeditiously carried out. Greenpeace has been actively participating in the negotiation process in trying to mobilize political will around an ambitious global deal on climate. From conference rooms to streets of India, Greenpeace mobilized people for an environmentally sound outcome in the run up to Copenhagen Summit last year. 

BASIC meetings

The BASIC group of countries – comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China is a recent formulation. The group emerged largely from the climate negotiation context in the run up to Copenhagen climate negotiations towards the end of 2009. The BASIC group had its first meeting in Beijing in November 2009. The four countries in that meeting discussed critical issues on coordinating their negotiation positions at Copenhagen.

At Copenhagen the BASIC group was instrumental along with the US on negotiations of the Copenhagen Accord.

After Copenhagen the BASIC group met again in New Delhi in January to discuss the post Copenhagen strategy of the four countries which emerged as one of the most powerful blocs in the climate negotiations. The countries decided  to have subsequent meetings throughout the year in order to ensure strategic coordination.

Greenpeace has been actively trying to engage the BASIC ministers in trying to be a progressive bloc within the climate negotiations.