BASIC group
Also called: BASIC, Brazil South Africa India China · Topic: Climate Change: Causes, Evidence and the Global Response · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The BASIC group is a climate negotiating bloc of four large developing economies: Brazil, South Africa, India and China. The name comes from their first letters. All four are non-Annex I countries under the UNFCCC, meaning they are counted as developing countries with no binding emission-cut duty under Kyoto. Their ministers meet and agree shared positions before and during the yearly climate summits (COPs). They stress equity (fairness), common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR: richer countries that emitted more must do more), national circumstances, and means of implementation (finance, technology and skills from developed countries). It matters because these four are big and fast-growing emitters, so a joint stand from them shapes what the world can agree on.
Example
At UNFCCC COPs, India works through BASIC as well as through G-77 and China and the LMDC. Through these groups it argues that climate finance is a legal duty of developed countries under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, and that each country's NDC (its own climate pledge) should stay nationally decided, not set from the top.
Don't confuse with
- BRICS: a wider economic and political grouping that includes Russia and other members. BASIC leaves out Russia and deals only with climate talks.
- LMDC (Like-Minded Developing Countries): a bigger group of developing countries, including India and China, that also defends equity in climate talks. BASIC has just four large emerging economies.