Developing countries meet on climate change

A group of like-minded developing countries on climate change held an informal meeting last week in Geneva to assess the outcome of the last climate change talks in Doha and urged developed countries to boost action.

Representatives of China, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Mali, Malaysia, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Venezuela attended the meeting.

The group is a platform for like-minded developing countries to exchange views and coordinate positions on the talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to strengthen the voice of developing nations.

Members of the group said that the mitigation ambitions of developed countries under the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol are far below what is required by science, their historical responsibilities and the expectations of the international community.

"Climate change is an urgent threat that requires a common resolve and enhanced action by all parties, especially by developed countries, which should take the lead in combating climate change in line with their historical responsibilities," the group said in a press release.

Participants urged developed countries that have joined the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to increase their mitigation ambitions levels by 2014 in accordance with the Doha decision on this issue, and developed countries that are not parties to the Kyoto Protocol, or are not joining the second commitment period, to equally increase their mitigation ambitions to comparable levels, it said.

Also, members stressed that the work of the post-2020 arrangement cannot be undertaken in isolation and must be in line with previous principles and provisions.

The work of the Durban Platform must be in the context and on the basis of the work undertaken under various convention bodies, in particular the outcome of the Bali Road Map’s two-track process, it said.

Participants said that future work must take into account issues of importance to developing countries, such as ensuring the reflection of the principle of common but differentiated responsibility; and increasing the commitment and ambition levels of developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Members also emphasized their strong desire to strengthen the voice and participation of developing countries in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.