STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY H.E. AMB. SACHA LLORENTTY SOLíZ, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND CHAIR OF THE GROUP OF 77, ON THE SEVENTH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S OPEN WORKING GROUP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS ON "CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISASTER RISK REDUCTION" (New York, 9 January 2014)

Co-Chair,

1. I have the honour, as the new Chair of the Group of 77 and China, to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group.

2. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a fruitful 2014. The Group acknowledges the issue brief prepared by the Technical Support Team and thank Mr. Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the World Resources Institute for his keynote address on "climate change and disaster risk reduction" and also the one made by Professor Jiahua Pan.

Co-Chair,

3. Climate change and disaster risk are serious threats to poverty eradication and sustainable development. Developing countries are facing significant risks from the adverse impacts of climate change, and are already experiencing increased impacts, including persistent drought and extreme weather events, massive flooding, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, glacial retreat, land and forest degradation, loss of biodiversity, desertification and ocean acidification. For many developing countries, climate change and disaster risk represent one of the biggest threats to food security in the 21st century. Their impacts are already causing disruptions in the livelihoods in many parts of the world, particularly for those that are dependent on predicable weather and arable land. For small island developing states for instance, climate change and sea level rise represents the gravest of threats to their survival and viability, including for some the loss of territory.

4. We are deeply concerned that more than 226 million people globally are affected on average by disaster associated with natural hazards every year. While hazards are natural, disasters are preventable. We have been informed by the scientific community that the current drivers of risk are linked to poor policies and practices in land-use planning, governance, urbanisation, natural resource management, ecosystem management as well as increasing poverty levels. We recognise therefore, that the current model of development needs to be realigned to the changing world in order to address climate change and disaster risk reduction. It must be a model that is inclusive, equitable, risk sensitive, adaptive and disaster resilient.

Co-Chair,

5. With regard to climate change, the Group reiterates its view that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the primary international, inter-governmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change. We stress that the international community, particularly the developed countries, given their historical responsibility, need to take the lead in addressing the climate change challenge within the UNFCCC and its principles and provisions, particularly, the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and provide financial and technology support to developing countries.

6. To mitigate damage from climate change and to reduce disaster risk, we call for the fulfillment of climate-related and environmental commitments by developed countries, in particular those under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, as well as all commitments made under the various sustainable development frameworks applicable to developing countries, including the MDGs. Moreover, we urge our development partners to honour their commitments made through the Cancun Agreement at the 16th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC. These include a work programme on Loss and Damage; a Technology Mechanism; and the establishment of the Green Climate Fund which developed countries have expressed broad agreement to mobilise 100 billion US dollars per year both for adaptation and mitigation by 2020.

7. It is important that we proceed with a sense of urgency in the climate change negotiations in accordance with the principles and provisions of the climate change Convention. It is important to ensure coherence between climate negotiations and other inter-governmental agreements such as a successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action. In the context of the SDGs, we should give due consideration for a global goal and targets to address disaster risk and resilience in the context of sustainable development.

Co-Chair,

8. The Group underscores the importance of global efforts to strengthen action on climate change and disaster risk reduction as part of the international sustainable development agenda. The climate change challenges are multi-dimensional while disaster risk reduction is cross-cutting, both of which are intricately linked to different elements of the three dimensions of sustainable development. To address climate change and build resilience to disaster and climate impacts, the international community should embrace a multi-stakeholder, multi-sector approach within the global development agenda. This requires coordinated policies and actions across all sectors and at all levels of decision-making with all aspects of sustainable development.

9. Lastly, the Group recognises the inter-relationship between climate change, loss of biodiversity and desertification and the need to intensify efforts to combat desertification and promote sustainable land management, and stress the need for enhanced cooperation and coordination among the Secretariats of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity, while respecting their individual mandates. We reiterate our call on all Parties to fully support the implementation of these Conventions in all their aspects, including the promotion the exchange of knowledge on best practices and lessons learned from global and regional cooperation.

I thank you!