29 May 2011: The seventh BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change took place in Zimbali, South Africa, from 28-29 May 2011, and was attended by ministers from South Africa, China, Brazil, India, China, and Argentina as chair of the G77, as well as the incoming Climate Change Conference President Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. Ministers discussed the work required to achieve a comprehensive and balanced outcome at the Durban Climate Change Conference in December 2011 to complete the mandate of the Bali Road Map.

The Joint Statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting indicates that Ministers supported a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol as a central element for a comprehensive and balanced Durban outcome, and called for the political will of all Annex I Parties to undertake commitments in an appropriate legal form. They also stressed the need for: adaptation as a central element of the negotiations to be reflected in the structures being designed for financial and technology transfer support; a considerably enhanced common reporting format for funding; further work on monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) at expert and negotiator level; the UNFCCC Secretariat to publish information on funding already disbursed under fast-start finance provided by developed countries; and early operationalization of all the institutions established in the Cancun agreements, including the Adaptation Committee, the Technology Executive Committee, Centre and Network, the registry, the work programme on the Response Measure Forum and the Green Climate Fund.

Ministers reaffirmed the centrality of the negotiations under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol, stressing that parallel and informal processes can contribute to the formal negotiations in a supplementary manner, however, without undermining the transparent and inclusive multilateral process under the UNFCCC. They stressed that unilateral approaches, such as the inclusion of emissions from the aviation sector in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS) or establishing unilateral carbon accounting rules, run contrary to multilateralism and the UNFCCC principles, particularly equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities.

Finally, ministers emphasized the need for a negotiating session under the UNFCCC in September/October 2011 and welcomed Brazil’s offer to host the eighth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change in August 2011. [Joint Statement]