A meeting of four of the world's fastest-growing carbon emitters on Sunday ahead of a January 31st deadline for countries to submit their action plans to fight climate change may discuss a climate fund for poorer nations.
The meeting in India would be attended by the environment ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India and China - the so-called Basic bloc of nations that helped broker a political accord at last month's Copenhagen climate summit.
The non-binding accord was described by many as a failure because it fell far short of the conference's original goal of a more ambitious commitment to prevent more heatwaves, droughts and crop failures.
The document set a January 31st deadline for rich nations to submit economy-wide emissions targets for 2020 and for developing countries to present voluntary carbon-curbing actions.
Brazil's environment minister said it will propose a Basic fund to help poor countries adapt to global warming as part of a broader attempt to revive stalled global climate talks.
Indian officials said such a fund could undermine rich countries, particularly the United States, which have been criticised for not doing enough.
"The resources we'll put into it will call attention to how they are escaping their responsibilities," Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday. He did not give a figure.
Neither is there any clarity on the nature of the fund, who would administer it or how it would be distributed. "All this could be discussed," an Indian official said.
The New Delhi meeting is seen as crucial because what the four countries decide could shape a legally binding climate pact the United Nations hopes to seal at the end of the year.
Countries that support the Copenhagen Accord are supposed to add their emission reduction commitments to the schedule at the end of the document. But there is concern some countries might weaken their commitments until a new deal is agreed.
China has pledged to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each unit of economic growth by 40-45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels. For India, that figure is up to 25 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
China is the world's top CO2 emitter, while India is number four.
Reuters