Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honor to deliver this speech on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Allow me to once again congratulate you on your nomination as Chair of the group of AWG- LCA. The group assures you of its support to ensure that this session of the LCA will be able to address all the matters on the agenda of our work.

Mr. Chairman,

2. The Group of 77 and China believes that without prejudging the final outcome of our work in December its must undertaken in accordance with spirit of and the principles of the Convention including equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and the historical responsibilities of developed country parties. In our view, such a result must also fully respect the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the decisions taken by the COP, in particular the Bali Action Plan, The Cancun agreements and the Durban Outcomes. Similarly, it is of fundamental importance to the Group that all decisions are Party driven and taken in a fully transparent and inclusive manner.

Mr. Chairman,

3. The negotiations in this Working Group have seen some important progress during the COP17 in Durban, and the Group believes that we must continue to build on the existing momentum to achieve a satisfactory result of the AWG-LCA and smooth transition under the principles of the Convention. Furthermore, the Group is convinced that, in order to lead us to a successful outcome, such progress in our work must ensure thorough treatment of remaining issues, and decisive leadership to ensure that all outstanding issues in the agenda are addressed meaningfully and receive a fair and equitable treatment.

Mr. Chairman,

4. The Group highlights the importance of mitigation as part of a balanced and ambitious outcome in Doha. Furthermore, we believe that a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol must be the basis for comparable Annex I emission reduction commitments of Non Kyoto Protocol Parties. The Group reiterates the need for balance, both within mitigation and between mitigation and other building blocks, including adaptation, financing and technology development and transfer .

5. We also expect to be able to address other important issues in this context, such as ways to enhance the mitigation ambition of Annex I commitments, as well as the tasks necessary to operationalize the Durban decisions on support for developing country mitigation actions.

6. New responsibilities as per the Cancun decision, such as measurement, reporting and verification of NAMAs should be accompanied by clear provision for financial support that have to be provided to developing countries.

7. On adaptation, the G77 and China welcomes the progress made in Durban to define the modalities, composition and procedures of the Adaptation Committee, and we look forward to constructively engage at this session for its operationalization as soon as possible, keeping in mind the importance of creating the proper linkages to other institutional arrangements, in particular to the operating entities of the financial mechanism, as well as to other adaptation related arrangements.

8. We are ready to work on the very important issue of Long-term finance, crucial for enabling means of implementation for developing countries. For us, without new and additional, adequate, predictable means of implementation in particular for financing and technology development and transfer and capacity building, the extent to which developing country Parties will be able to effectively implement their commitment under the Convention will be seriously hampered.

9. The G77 and China believes that the main source for long-term finance should be mobilized by developed countries public funds, so as to ensure the adequacy and predictability of new and additional finance to mitigation and adaptation costs in developing countries, and to redress the historical imbalance in financing for adaptation. In addition, the G77 and China recognizes the importance of mobilizing a wide variety of sources for climate finance, including private and innovative sources, in accordance with the principles of the Convention and should not transfer financing burden to developing countries.

10. On the development and transfer of technologies, the G77 and China recognizes the work done by the Technology Executive Committee during its meetings this year. We expect the TEC to meet as often as necessary to develop and implement a program of work that fulfils its functions to be fully operational before the end of the COP18 in Doha.

Finally, Mr. Chairman,

11. The Group of 77 and China is fully committed to realizing meaningful results and successful outcomes at the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties which will be held in Doha.

Thank you.