G77 Adamant climate change talks must be under U.N. framework

The Group of 77 (G77) stressed Friday any future climate change talks must be conducted within the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"The centrality of the UNFCCC must be preserved and respected, that is to say the only venue for climate change negotiations is the UNFCCC framework," Abdullah M. Alsaidi said on behalf of the G77 and China at the opening plenary of the 9th session of the the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), one of the two working groups under the UNFCCC.

Alsaidi, head of the delegation from Yemen, which holds the rotating presidency of the G77 and China this year, also stressed the work process must be "open, democratic, party-driven, transparent, inclusive, legitimate and accountable" and centred on the implementation of the Bali Action Plan.

The Bali Action Plan, adopted in 2007, established the two-track negotiation mechanism. Under the mechanism, the U.N.-led climate change talks are conducted in two working groups, namely the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the AWG-LCA.

According to the plan, developed countries should come up with emissions reduction targets for the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol after the first period expires in 2012, and discuss how to help developing countries on their mitigation and adaptation efforts under the UNFCCC.

Alsaidi said no less than three sessions would be necessary for negotiations for the AWG-LCA.

He said the participation of the developing countries must be supported and the G77 preferred to hold the meetings in New York or Geneva to "ensure greater participation by developing countries".

This session of the AWG-LCA is the first round of talks since the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December, which attracted more than 120 world leaders but failed to clinch a legally binding agreement due to differences between developing and developed countries.

Negotiators from the two working groups under the UNFCCC will discuss during the three-day sessions the number and duration of any additional UNFCCC negotiating sessions in the second half of 2010 in the run-up to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Mexico, which is scheduled to be held on November 29 to December 10.

Since the Copenhagen Conference, the U.N. negotiating mechanism has been criticized as ineffective, and there have been calls to conduct climate change negotiations under other forums, such as the G20.

Source: Xinhua