The role of large developing countries in combating climate change will become increasingly important as the world negotiates a post-2012 agreement on climate change. This report summarises the activities undertaken by the BASIC Project (Building and Strengthening Institutional Capacities on Climate Change in Brazil, India, China and South Africa). This action-orientated research and capacity development project focused on supporting the institutional capacity of key developing countries to undertake analytical work to determine what kind of national and international climate change actions best fit within their circumstances and priorities. The underlying premise of BASIC is that international climate policy has tended to be internationally determined and based on top-down approaches that have not examined the social, political and economic feasibility of implementation. BASIC has sought to reverse this dynamic to ensure that future climate policy is informed by countries’ particular circumstances and challenges. The report is includes the following:
the background and objectives of the BASIC Project and an overview of the achievements and deliverables that were accomplished
the dissemination of the results of BASIC
an evaluation of the BASIC Project from the perspective of BASIC participants and description of follow up work and related initiatives
a list of the 17 BASIC papers and other materials generated by the BASIC Project, which can be found at: http://www.basic-project.net