Joint statement issued at the conclusion of the second meeting of ministers of basic group, New Delhi

Media Release 25 January 2010 The second meeting of Ministers of the four BASIC Group countries took place in New Delhi yesterday (24 January 2010). Earlier, the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh met with the four Ministers on the evening of January 23rd. The Ministers who participated in the meeting were H.E. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reforms Commission from China, H.E. Carlos Minc, Minister for Environment from Brazil, H.E. Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs from South Africa and H.E. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Environment and Forests from India. The current G-77 Chair * Yemen * had also been invited but could not attend because of other commitments.

The Ministers recalled, that the BASIC Countries functioning as a cohesive group, had made important and constructive contributions at the recently concluded COP-15 in Copenhagen. They re-emphasised their commitment to working together with all other countries to ensure an agreed outcome at COP-16 in Mexico later this year.

The Ministers underscored the centrality of the UNFCCC process and the decision of the Parties to carry forward the negotiations on the two tracks of Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) under the Convention and the Ad hoc Working Group on further emission reduction commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) in 2010 leading up to COP-16 and COP/MOP6 at Mexico. The Ministers reiterated that all negotiations must be conducted in an inclusive and transparent manner.

The Ministers called upon the COP President (Denmark) to convene meetings of the two negotiating groups * (AWG-LCA and the AWG-KP) * in March 2010 and to ensure that the AWGs meet at least 5 times before the Mexico Conference. They emphasised that funding, logistics and other procedural issues should not be allowed to become a constraint in the convening of these meetings which are essential to make progress towards an agreed outcome at COP-16.