Glasgow: Taking the floor at the joint stock take plenary at COP-16 on behalf of Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC), India today warned that lack of a serious approach to climate finance will jeopardize the enhanced mitigation and adaptation ambition as well as Net Zero pledges of parties.
Delivering the statement, Richa Sharma, Lead Negotiator (India) and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said, “Trust in multi lateralism and credibility of the process is at stake. Post 2020 ambition and net zero pledges require significantly enhanced climate finance. The exact magnitude of the new finance goal can be determined through a structured process, with clear timelines and milestones so that we have a new finance goal well before 2025. It is a simple ask from many developing country parties. Yet, what we are getting is more workshops and in session seminars to discuss the new goal.”
Sharma said that BASIC countries support strong, credible domestic mitigation actions by developed country parties without undue reliance on cheap offsets to maintain their high carbon, unsustainable lifestyles. Towards this end, she said, the grouping supports markets that are credible and have high environmental integrity and strong non market approaches as well.
Sharma highlighted that cover decisions of COP26 should remain within the confines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement and be fully consistent with its guiding principles of equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities(CBDR-RC).
“In the interest of transparency and enhanced understanding”, BASIC countries also called for a mandate to UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) to work towards multilaterally agreed, operational definition of climate finance . “BASIC nations would also like to stress that the responsibility for climate finance, as mentioned in the convention and Paris Agreement, should be respected,” she said.
She further stated that the planet will benefit from strong implementation of the Paris Agreement, particularly in this critical decade. “We can shift focus to implementation if we stop renegotiating elements of PA , such as who bears responsibility for providing resources, or how frequently parties need to review their NDCs. These are settled issues under the PA,” the statement said.
– global bihari bureau
