India slams parties to Copenhagen Accord

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) India today slammed the US andother parties to the Copenhagen Accord for failing to deliver"fast track" financial obligations to Least DevelopedCountries (LDCs) and other nations facing the risk of climatechange.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the UnitedStates and other parties to the Copenhagen Accord had agreedto raise USD 30 billion for helping poor nations most at riskof climate change.

"The continued inability to deliver on fast trackfinance to my mind is a betrayal of the trust and the betrayalof a grand bargain at Copenhagen," he told reporters after theconclusion of Sixth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on ClimateChange here.

The BASIC nations are Brazil, South Africa, India andChina.

"USD 30 billion was the total commitment for 2010, 2011and 2012. I would be surprised, if the total disbursementexceeds two digits so far," Ramesh said at the joint pressconference attended by Vice Chairman of the NationalDevelopment and Reform Commission of China Xie Zhenhua,Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Monica Vieira Teixeiraand his South African counterpart Bomo Edith Edna Molewa.

The minister said the United States "includes 26 milliondollars funding to India" as part of the fast track fundingcommitment.

"And today my Brazilian colleague gave me example ofhow some funding for Brazil is included as part of the EU fasttrack finance. Fast track finance must meet two conditions.

No.1 it must be new and additional. No 2, it must be toAfrica, small island states and LDCs," he said.

"I think this remains to my mind the single biggestdisappointment ever since the Copenhagen Accord was signed,"Ramesh said. .

At the United Nations'' climate change conference in Copenhagen 14 months ago, the US and other parties to theCopenhagen Accord had agreed for fast track finance meant forAfrica, small island states and the LDCs, which are at risk offlooding, drought, disease outbreaks and other catastrophescaused by climate change.

Ramesh said it was "highly regrettable and mostunfortunate" that even after the 14 months of CopenhagenAccord "there is hardly been any significant disbursal".

The Maldives Environment Minister who attended the BASICPlus meeting has said that it had received no funding, hesaid.

Today''s meeting was also attended by representatives ofArgentina, which is going to be the chair of the G-77 groupfrom 2011, and special representative of the EnvironmentMinister of Algeria.