Emerging Economies Will Read the Riot Act to Developed West

When it comes to carbon emissions the emerging economic powers - Brazil, South Africa, India and China - have pretty bold expectations of the industrialized West.  They're not interested in major cuts in our carbon emissions.  They want us to become major carbon absorbers - negative emitters - in the first half of this century at least according to a position paper seen by BBC.

Working from the standpoint that western nations have a heavy responsibility for climate change because they industrialised first through fossil fuel burning, the experts reviewed various studies on what a fair and equitable allocation of future emissions might look like.

The analysis, seen by BBC News, is that industrialised countries should become net absorbers of CO2 rather than net emitters.

In the first half of this century, it concludes, the developed world should absorb 239-474 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide while developing countries continue to emit. That, the experts say, would be fair and equitable.

Analysts say it is not clear how far the BASIC bloc will push this line in negotiations.

Although the West's historical role is acknowledged in the UN climate convention, demands that Western countries become net carbon absorbers would not be countenanced.