Energy Saving News
BASIC Urges Rich Nations To Hand Over $10 billion Funding Aid To Poor Countries
The group known as BASIC, composed of Brazil, South Africa, India, and China, has urged developed nations to quickly start distributing the $10 billion pledged in Copenhagen, aimed to help poorer countries adapt to the effects of climate change.
With a share of this funding initiative, poor countries would be able to invest in energy saving technology as a means of combating the effects of climate change.
Council Member of the Energy Saving Association, Ian Wrigley, is convinced that energy efficiency is an essential weapon to fight the consequences of climate change, and to help reduce its impact by lowering emissions: "Investing in energy saving technology means adapting to the effects of global warming, especially for the least developed nations who are expected to be hardest hit by those effects. Saving energy reduces the output of harmful emissions, and contributes to keeping climate change under manageable control. Finally, reducing energy consumption equates to reducing energy costs, which is imperative in these times of rising prices".
Least developed countries, including small island states and African countries, should be the first to receive their share of the funding aid, according to China's top climate change negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, following a meeting of the BASIC representatives in New Delhi.
The four fast developing nations took the opportunity to announce that they would be submitting their detailed plans to tackle climate change to the UN later this week.
During the Copenhagen climate summit last month, developed countries had hoped that the new accord would impose emissions cuts on both rich and poor nations, to replace the Kyoto Protocol which only demanded emissions cuts from rich nations.
However, the agreement known as the Copenhagen accord - a deal made between the US and BASIC - only requires poor countries to make voluntary actions by January 31st, This deadline has since been extended.
South Africa’s Environment Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica, comments: “We have the obligation to be the first to submit the action plans."
China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has already said it would cut its “carbon intensity’’ - a measure of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of production - by 40-45% by 2020, from 2005 levels. India, the 5th largest polluter, aims to cut its carbon intensity by 20-25% by 2020.
Monday 25th January 2010
