Representatives from BASIC countries, namely Brazil, South Africa, India and China, attended a press conference during the Paris Climate Change Conference at Le Bourget on the northern suburbs of Paris, France, on Dec. 8.?[Photo/Xinhua]

The BASIC group, which includes Brazil, South Africa, India and China, launched a joint press conference on Dec. 8, replying questions from journalists from all parts of the world with regard to the ongoing climate change negotiations.

The four countries firmly believe that, through the joint efforts of all the countries involved in the Paris conference, the international community's high expectations could be met.

At the 2009 Copenhagen conference, developed countries pledged to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to the developing world. Despite that, progress on the vow has been sluggish.

On the other hand, a report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) claimed that a total of $62 billion has been raised in 2014, up from $52 billion in 2013.

"It is double counting," argued Bomo Edna Molewa, South Africa's environment minister, who called for greater transparency in order to determine the real numbers behind the disbursement.

"We welcome OECD studies, but it has not been acknowledged by developing countries, because there has been no explicit standards with regard to the sources of funds and apparently there is double counting," said Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, who stressed that transparency in financing issues is essential to strengthen mutual political trust in fighting against climate risks.

"Developed countries should inform the public of how much they gave to whom, and recipients should let all the people know where they get the money and what they use it for," said Xie, noting that a transparent mechanism needs to be established to track the funds.

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