Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China would like to express its appreciation to you the Executive Secretary and the secretariat of the UNFCCC for all your hard work in bring us to this point.  I would like to assure you of the Group's full support and cooperation to make this meeting successful.

Mr. Chairman, our meeting here in Poznan, is a significant milestone in our process to reach agreement on future quantified emission reduction commitments of Annex 1 Parties under the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009.  We note with concern that our progress has been extremely slow thus far and that we were unable to complete the work we had scheduled for ourselves in Accra.  Given that we are already behind schedule, we are extremely concerned that the agenda for COP 14 and COP MOP 4 is already extremely congested, which gives little time to the AWG-KP to complete its' work in accordance with our agreed work programme.  

However, we note that the Article 3.9 of the Kyoto Protocol provides a clear and simple legal mandate for the work of the AWG-KP, which is to set further quantified emission reduction commitments for Annex I Parties for the 2nd and subsequent commitment periods through the amendment of Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol.  

The G77 and China would also note that our discussions over the past 3 years on the analysis of Annex I Party mitigation potentials; on the identification of the range of emission reduction commitments and the technical issues underpinning the means available to Annex 1 Parties have already deepened our understanding of these issues. Further, in line with the iterative nature of our work, we will also constructively participate in the in-session workshop on mitigation potentials during this session.

Therefore, the Group of 77 and China believes that we are well positioned to adopt, here in Poznan, conclusions on mitigation potentials, a range of quantified emission reduction commitments, means available to Annex I Parties and methodological issues, since we have been discussing these for the past 3 years.  

Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China would like to emphasise that the impacts of climate change are already being felt, particularly in developing countries.  In the context of the principle of "developed countries taking the lead", it is important that Annex 1 Parties adopt ambitious quantified emission reduction commitments and the IPCC AR4 findings indicates that Annex 1 Parties need to reduce their GHG emissions by 25% to 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.  In addition it would be important to supplement these actions in Annex 1Parties with commitment to shift to sustainable life styles.

This would provide the necessary space for the AWG-KP to continue its' work on spill-over effects that we initiated at our last meeting, in Accra and adopt conclusions on these issues.

All of this will provide the basis for the AWG-KP to focus on its' central task of setting further quantified emission reduction commitments for Annex I Parties, and thereby avoid any gap between the 1st and 2nd commitment periods of the Kyoto Protocol and ensure the integrity of the international climate regime.  

In addition Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China acknowledges the short term financial crisis being experienced world-wide and we call upon Annex I Parties to ensure that the measures they are taking to address these issues are not used as an excuse to reduce or limit their commitment to the long-term climate change crisis.  Indeed, Mr Chairman, we urge Annex I Parties to proactively demonstrate that investment in climate technologies, policies and measures are a fundamental part of the sustainable solution to the global financial crisis.

As a final point Mr. Chairman, the Group of 77 and China looks forward to constructively participate in the discussions on a AWG-KP work programme for 2009.

Thank you.