Mr. Chairman, Sudan is honoured to make this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Mr. Chairman,

The Group of 77 and China would like to reiterate its gratitude to our host the Government of Germany and to the Climate Change Secretariat for the excellent arrangements and timely support.

Mr Chairman,

The Group reiterates its serious concerns regarding the slow progress of the AWG-KP in achieving its clear and simple mandate. As outlined in our opening statement the group was looking forward to constructive discussions on 2 of the central tasks of the very clear and defined AWG-KP mandate, namely to draw conclusions on the scale of emission reduction commitments for Annex I Parties in aggregate and reach conclusions on an amendment text pursuant to Article 3.9.

We note, however, with extreme disappointment that although we initiated some discussions on future Annex I Party commitments with some Parties tabling concrete proposals for the scale of Annex I Party commitments in aggregate, the AWG-KP did not manage to have any substantive discussion on the actual options for the number describing the scale of Annex I Party commitments in aggregate. We strongly believe that the scale of emissions reduction to be achieved by Annex I parties in aggregate should be compatible to their historical responsibility, capability, sustainable development and equity. These basic criteria and hence the first objective of conclusions on the scale of emission reductions by Annex I parties were not reflected in your conclusions.

In a similar vein, Mr Chairman, despite very concrete proposals for the legal text placed before the AWG-KP, we did not have any substantive discussion on the actual options for an amendment text pursuant to Article 3.9. Considering the fact that this amendment text must be communicated to Parties by June 2009 in order to respect the 6 month rule, the AWG-KP is now behind the schedule laid out in the work programme we agreed to in Poznan.

Instead, Mr Chairman, we spent an inordinate amount of time discussing other issues which, while important in respect of improving the efficiency of the Kyoto Protocol, could be taken up in decisions of the CMP and could be negotiated in detail even beyond the 2009 deadline and have distracted the focus of our work at this session.
 
In this regard, the Group would like to emphasise that there must be a clear distinction between the legal amendment text pursuant to Article 3.9 of the Kyoto Protocol and the proposed text related to the work on the other issues in the report of AWG-KP from Poznan. Both these texts should be in full conformity of the proposals and principles of the Convention.

Mr Chairman,

Despite the fact that there was very little progress, the group appreciates the discussion and exchange of views on potential consequences and issues arised from the implementation of the work program of the AWG-KP which has contributed to improving the understanding of parties on these issues.

The Group of 77 would like to reaffirm its commitment to engage constructively in the future sessions of the AWG-KP to achieve its clear mandate as stated in Article 3.9.

Finally, Mr. Chairman,

We appeal to our partners to demonstrate a constructive and cooperative spirit in the June session dedicated towards achieving our objective to reach an agreement in Copenhagen that allows non Annex I Parties the space to achieve the goal of sustainable development and poverty eradication. This is a sacred charge of responsibility for us to reach an agreement in Copenhagen in order to save our planet for the coming generations.

I thank you.