Indonesia mulls invite to join Basic negotiating group

In what could prove a significant development for faltering international climate change negotiations, Indonesian officials have revealed the country has been invited to join Brazil, South Africa, India and China in the so-called Basic Group that negotiated the controversial Copenhagen Accord with the US.

Agus Purnomo, special assistant to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyuno on climate change affairs, told the Jakarta Post that the president had received an informal invitation from members of the group to join with Basic at future negotiations.

He said Indonesia was interested in finding out more about the group and was awaiting a formal invitation to attend a meeting of the countries in South Africa next month.

However, he also expressed caution at joining a negotiating bloc that has been widely criticised by both industrialised and developing countries for opposing efforts to agree binding emissions cuts for richer nations.

"We will first weigh up both the positive and negative impacts before making the decision on whether to join," Agus said. "We see the four are a group of eminent countries that need to be heard. Their voice is crucial for the success of climate talks."

The inclusion of Indonesia, which as a result of widespread deforestation is one of the most carbon-intensive developing economies, would further strengthen Basic's negotiating position.

However, Indonesia is also widely regarded as one of the developing world's leading supporters of sustainable development, having pledged before the Copenhagen Summit to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 26 per cent below business-as-usual levels by 2020, and could help provide a bridge between Basic and industrialised countries in the wake of the fractious fallout that followed the Copenhagen Summit.

Meanwhile, negotiators from around 30 countries have gathered in Japan this week to discuss how to restore momentum to the UN-backed climate change negotiations ahead of the crucial meeting in Mexico in November where diplomats still hope to agree a new climate treaty.

Attendees at the Informal Meeting on Further Actions against Climate Change, co-chaired by Japan and Brazil, are expected to discuss potential reforms to the negotiating processes in response to criticism that the Copenhagen Summit became deadlocked by repeated rows over negotiating protocols and accusations that some countries were being sidelined.