Distinguished Co-Chairs,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. The Group underscores that achieving sustainable patterns of consumption and production is fundamental to the sustainable development agenda. This view is consistent with the call made by our political leaders more than twenty years ago at the 1992 Earth Summit.

Chapter 4 of Agenda 21 recognized that "the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries" and Principle 8 of the Rio Declaration urges states to reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of consumption and production.

This call was subsequently reaffirmed in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, and the Rio+20 Summit, which led to the adoption of the Ten-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (the "10 YFP") in 2012 at Rio.

3. As previously stated by the Group in early January of this year, there is an urgent need to change current consumption and production patterns, including the prevention of high rates of food loss and waste.

We express deep concern on the serious imbalanced and inequitable nature of global consumption and call for time-bound effective implementation of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, which is a concrete and operational outcome of the Rio+20 Conference.

Furthermore, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, developed countries need to take the lead.

4. As previously stated, the Group reiterates that enabling conditions must be created for new and innovative solutions by using a mix of regulatory and economic instruments, existing and new technologies, empowerment of stakeholders and a governance structure that entails decision-making founded upon inclusive and participatory approaches.

International cooperation on financing, innovation and technology transfer is essential to assist developing countries to progress towards sustainable development goals. Furthermore, the means of implementation should ensure that impediments to achieving sustainable consumption and production are reduced or even removed, particularly in international agreements and trade rules.

5. In the context of the SDGs, the Group holds the view that the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns should serve as a global cooperative framework to help accelerate the shift towards sustainable patterns of consumption and production, including sound chemical and waste management.

Making this global shift requires strong leadership from developed countries, as recognised in a number of international declarations. With developed countries taking the lead and developing countries following a similar pattern, we are convinced that our collective efforts could mitigate or even reverse the damage to the global environment, thereby preserving a sustainable future for our children.

On Climate Change

6. As the Group of 77 and China highlighted in the last session on the OWG we call once again for your attention since the alarming average of 226 million people in the world who are affected by disaster or natural hazards; and it has been shown that this is linked to poor policies and practices in land-use planning, governance, urbanization, natural resource management, ecosystem management and poverty levels. With this in mind, we would like to underscore the importance of modifying our current model of development to one that is inclusive, equitable, risk sensitive, adaptive and disaster risk reducing, in harmony with nature, so as to successfully address the impacts of climate change we are facing. Disasters are preventable, therefore it is crucial that we act while we can.

7. We understand and recall that the international community, in particular the developed countries, 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.

8. Furthermore, we urgently call for the fulfilment of the commitments made by developed countries in the context of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and urge the developed countries that are not part the second commitment period to make comparable quantified commitments of mitigation. Developed countries have to take the lead in the solution of the climate change crisis. Developing countries should enhance mitigation actions in the context of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities with the respective support of means of implementation as it is stated in the Climate Change Framework Convention.

9. There is an urgent need also to advance supporting adaptation plans and actions and a Loss and Damage programme, a Technology Mechanism, and the establishment of the Green Climate Fund in which developed countries have expressed their commitment to reinforce and the International Mechanism on Loss and damage recently created in the Warsaw Decision at COP 19. There is also a need to have a clear commitment about the commitment of development countries to mobilize 100 billion US dollars per year both for adaptation and mitigation by 2020. We also urge developed countries to transfer technologies to developing countries, so that developing countries will have affordable and appropriate technologies to combat climate change.

10. These elements have to be part of our approach to the issue of climate change. And it has to be clear that it is in the context of the UNFCCC that the decisions are going to be taken.

11. 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.

12. We would like to highlight that in order to address further discussions on this issue, the Group recognizes 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.

I thank you, Co-Chairs!