Emphasising that SAARC will “stick to the Kyoto Protocol, Bali Action Plan and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, Environment Ministers from the SAARC nations on Tuesday said that a joint statement on climate change would be issued at the Copenhagen summit in December. They emphasised that the central point in the upcoming statement would be the aid that the developing world should get from the developed world.

While the Ministers showed their willingness to work together on signing an environmental treaty which includes working together on climate change, little was actually finalised at the end of Tuesday’s meeting. The Ministers said in a statement that a joint roadmap for climate change would be worked out. By the Sixteenth SAARC Summit at Thimphu, Bhutan, in April 2010, a draft Treaty on environment, and a SAARC Agreement on Natural Disaster Rapid Response Mechanism will also be finalised for signing. An Inter-governmental Expert Group Meeting is being convened for the same.

The broader goal for the SAARC countries is to be a ‘single entity’ speaking for the region at Copenhagen. “In addition to individual statements by different countries, we will also ask for SAARC as an entity to issue a statement. Sri Lanka, as the current chair, will release the statement in Copenhagen. SAARC is absolutely clear that it will stay within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, UNFCCC and the Bali Action Plan. SAARC will also hold a side event in Copenhagen to highlight the vulnerabilities of and the actions taken by the SAARC countries,” said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

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