BASIC Nations criticise developed world for backtracking on climate finance

They say fossil fuel use in Global North has risen, call it "double standards towards climate equity"; note that climate finance from developed nations continues to fall short of $100 bn a year goal

BASIC countries or bloc of four newly industrialised nations - Brazil, South Africa, India, and China -- came down on developed nations in a joint session on climate change at COP27 for not meeting their climate financing goals and backtracking on their mitigation commitments.

The four nations in a joint statement also highlighted that fossil fuel consumption in the Global North has gone up, and termed it as “double standards towards climate equity”.

“BASIC countries are gravely concerned that developed countries are still not showing leadership or responding with a matching progression of effort. There has been backtracking on finance and mitigation commitments and pledges by developed countries. There has also been a significant increase in the consumption and production of fossil fuels in the past year by developed countries, even as they continue to press developing countries to move away from the same resources. Such double standards are incompatible with climate equity and justice,” the joint statement said.

The BASIC ministers, who met at a side event in COP27 on Wednesday, said they are concerned that climate finance provided by developed countries continues to fall short of the $100 billion per year commitment, as it has every year since the goal was set in 2009, and despite the deep regret expressed at COP26 last year. Union minister for environment, forest, and climate change (MoEFCC), Bhupender Yadav, represented India.

“Developing countries, and especially the BASIC countries, have to channel many times this amount of financing from their domestic resources or from commercial loans and developing countries cannot afford to transform their economies without assistance. Finance to developing countries is also increasingly with unilateral conditionalities and eligibility criteria, predominantly in the form of loans rather than grants, aggravating the financial constraints faced by developing countries,” said the joint statement by the BASIC nations.

The ministers also urged the developed world, the adaptation financing needs to be impact based. “The new collective quantified goal by developed countries must therefore go beyond the floor of $100 billion per year, be significantly public funded with greater transparency and predictability, provide incentives to enhance access modalities, be periodically reviewed, and take a balanced approach towards mitigation and adaptation in light of evolving needs and priorities of developing countries,” they said.

The BASIC nations also called for an “urgent need” for transformation and modernisation of the global financial architecture, including a systematic reform of the multilateral development banks to make them fit-for-purpose in supporting sustainable development and just and equitable transitions.