The joint statement issued at the conclusion of the Second Meeting of Ministers of the BASIC group countries on climate change in New Delhi is notable for the sober message it sends to the developed world and the United Nations: that progress on climate talks will depend on a reassertion of the central principle of common but differentiated responsibilities outlined by the UN Framework Convention

RASHME SEHGAL

Ministers of the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) met in New Delhi on Sunday and reiterated that they formed an integral part of G-77 even as they underscored the need to revitalise the entire UNFCCC process. By doing so, it becomes obvious that the BASIC countries are also throwing their weight behind the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Action Plan.

Rejecting attempts to make the Copenhagen Accord the new international legal framework on climate change, India and the three other major developing countries that constitute the BASIC group, on Sunday reaffirmed their commitment in the existing global arrangement that has the Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at its centre.

Carbon trading is going to be the key for better economic prospects especially among the developing countries blessed with forests and certainly Sri Lanka despite being a tiny island is rich in biodiversity has a key role to play.

It is well established fact that the main reason for climate change especially global warming as the greenhouse effects which warms the earth atmosphere system.

Climate change is the newest, fastest way to make money.

Q&A: Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State, Environment and Forests

For a species that is facing the gravest threat to its sole habitat we seem to be pretty casual about saving it as the recently concluded Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen demonstrated. You could forgive the dinosaurs--they didn't know that a meteorite was going to clobber the earth leading to catastrophic climate changes and their rapid extinction.