BRICS Nations Call For Differentiated Responsibilities On Climate Change
The BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, released a New Delhi Statement on Environment at the 7th meeting of BRICS environment ministers on Friday, emphasising the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) that means countries will act on climate change based on their respective capabilities.
The statement said BRICS countries will cooperate closely ahead of the critical UN climate change negotiations (COP 26) and underlined that developed countries will have to honour their financial commitment of USD 100 billion per year to developing countries for climate change mitigation. “We agree to cooperate closely in the run up to the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP26) in the United Kingdom and the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) in China. We took note of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1 contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report and noted that it is a clarion call for rapid, sustained and effective science-based responses to climate change,” the statement said.
“We underscored the need to honour the commitments made by developed countries in the pre-2020 period even as we have moved into the post-2020 era, including the yearly US$ 100 billion goal for climate finance. We noted with grave concern the proposals for introducing trade barriers, such as unilateral carbon border adjustment, that are discriminatory,” it added. On March 10, the European Parliament adopted a resolution titled: “A WTO-compatible EU carbon border adjustment mechanism” which will put a carbon price on imports of a targeted selection of products so that ambitious climate action in Europe does not lead to ‘carbon leakage,’ according to the European Commission.
The ministers acknowledged the importance of global action against climate change by recognizing the “fundamental equality of all people in accessing economic growth and sustainable development.” The statement also acknowledged the need to address marine plastic litter, cleaning of rivers, biodiversity and forest cover management.
Union environment minister, Bhupender Yadav who chaired the meeting stated that India gives great importance to BRICS—”2021 is a very crucial year not only for the BRICS but for the whole world as well, as we have UN Biodiversity COP 15 in October and UNFCCC COP 26 in November. BRICS Countries can play a very significant role in addressing the contemporary global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, air pollution, marine plastic litter, etc.”
COP 26 President Alok Sharma had met Yadav and other ministers earlier this month regarding raising ambition ahead of COP 26. Sharma in an interview to Hindustan Times had said “We want every country to set out plans to go to net-zero by the middle of the century.”