23 December 2009
Copenhagen Climate Summit Ends with Meaningful First Step Deal
The head of a United Nations panel on climate change says several developing nations have emerged as key players for any future deal on global warming.
Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the emergence of India, China, Brazil and South Africa as a grouping was the most significant outcome of the climate talks in Copenhagen.
The four countries form what is called the BASIC group. Pachauri says developed nations will not be able to craft an agreement on climate change without them.
But he also had a warning for India, which says it safeguarded its interests by not signing a legally binding carbon emission cut.
Pachauri said India cannot allow its "words or actions to be interpreted as being only in India's national interest."
The next global meeting on climate change is scheduled for next year in Mexico.
On Tuesday, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi by phone to discuss continued cooperation on climate change.
Also Tuesday, Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh hailed efforts by the BASIC group in thwarting what he called "relentless efforts" by rich countries to impose legally binding targets for carbon emission cuts.
He also said India is satisfied with the outcome of the Copenhagen summit, partly because the gathering failed to reach a legally binding agreement on specific targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
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