NEW DELHI: Environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China will meet in the Indian capital to discuss how they will fight climate change ahead of a January 31 deadline set by the Copenhagen Accord.

The four nations, a group referred to as BASIC, brokered a political accord with American President Barack Obama at last month’s climate summit. The meeting

in New Delhi is important because the decisions made by the BASIC

nations will play a key

role in shaping a legally binding climate deal that the United Nations hopes will be completed by the end of 2010.

The ministers were also expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the two-day meeting that is likely to take place on January 23-24, said Kalpana Palkhiwala, a spokeswoman for India’s Environment and Forests Ministry, on Monday.