Climate change talks to resume in Bonn in July

PRESS RELEASE

Bonn, 28 February 2001 Mr. Jan Pronk, the Chairman of the climate change talks that were suspended last November in The Hague, has announced that the negotiations will resume in Bonn from 16 - 27 July 2001. The meeting venue will be the Maritim Hotel.

“I am confident that these new dates will give governments the time they need to prepare themselves for the decisions that must be taken,” said Mr. Pronk, who is also Environment Minister of The Netherlands. “It is essential that we maintain political momentum so that all key players are committed to taking early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The two-week meeting will consist of the resumed sixth session of the Conference of the Parties as well as short, parallel meetings of the Convention’s two subsidiary bodies.

Mr. Pronk reached the decision to resume negotiations only after wide-ranging consultations with governments earlier this year. On 12 February he was asked by the Convention’s Bureau to identify a suitable and affordable venue during the period mid-June to end-July. The Bonn location home of the Convention secretariat was the most economical option available.

Officials at the resumed climate talks will have the benefit of the newest five-year scientific and technical assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC has confirmed that the evidence for humanity’s influence on the global climate is now stronger than ever before and has presented the most detailed picture to date of how global warming will affect various regions. The IPCC is now finalizing its assessment of the policies and technologies that could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Key issues that must still be resolved at the resumed talks include a package of financial support and technology transfer to help developing countries contribute to global action on climate change, including measures for adapting to climate change impacts; the establishment of an international emissions trading system and a “clean development mechanism”; the extent to which targets should be achieved through domestic action (vs. emissions trading and CDM); the rules for counting emissions reductions from carbon “sinks” such as forests and farmland; and a compliance regime.

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Note to journalists: For more information, see www.unfccc.int or contact Michel Smitall at +49-228-8151005 or msmitall@unfccc.int, or Michael Williams at +41-22-917-8242, +41-79-4091528 (cell), or michael.williams@unep.ch.

  Michael Williams (Mr.)			
  United Nations Environment Programme
  Information Unit for Conventions (UNEP/IUC)		
  International Environment House
  15, chemin des Anémones
  1219 Chatelaine, Switzerland	
  Voice: +41-22-917-8242/8244/8196
  Portable: +41-79-409-1528 (when in use)
  Fax:   (+41 22) 797 3464
  Email: michael.williams@unep.ch  	
  http://www.unep.ch/conventions/

 
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