INTERVENTION ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY MRS. EDNA MOLEWA, MINISTER OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, AT THE MEETING OF THE PARIS COMMITTEE ON CAPACITY-BUILDING, PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE (Paris, France, 9 December 2015)

President,

1. I am taking the floor on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. The Group wishes to thank the COP Presidency, the Ministerial facilitators and the secretariat for their work and for presenting us with a further version of the Draft Paris Outcome.

3. We have studied the text carefully and consulted with our Group and wish to highlight some initial observations. These should not be regarded as an exclusive list of the concerns of the Group:

4. The Group is concerned about the steady delinking of the text from the Convention and a dilution of its principles. In this regard, the framing of Parties' commitments in many places in the text are not properly differentiated. There are also numerous inconsistencies in the text between the Convention language and the new draft text.

5. Regarding adaptation, we are concerned that key adaptation proposals from the Group do not appear in the new text. We trust that we will be able to engage further on this critical issue for developing countries.

6. In the paragraphs dealing with the provision of the means of implementation, the Group does not see adequate reassurances that its actions on mitigation and adaptation will be sufficiently supported in the post-2020 period.

7. In particular, we are concerned that there does not appear to be a long-term vision on the provision of support, nor strong legal commitments for developed country Parties to provide finance, technology transfer and capacity-building. There is no assurance that there will be predictability and scalable funds.

8. It is not clear how the institutional mechanisms will be linked in order to deliver the necessary level of support. We also need to find a way to provide for the continued operation of and delivery by the Adaptation Fund, the Least Developed Country Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund.

9. On capacity-building, the Group is concerned about the lack of differentiation in the new text.

10. On loss and damage, the Group acknowledges that there will be further consultations to advance on these issues. We, however, need to reiterate our position that there should be a separate article in the agreement on loss and damage; that this article must be clearly bounded by the principles of the Convention, particularly CBDR&RC; that addresses the permanent and irreversible impacts of climate change; and that we need a permanent institution to deal with loss and damage arising from the adverse effects of climate change.

11. Moreover, the Group is concerned that the issue of unilateral measures have been omitted from the text when it is principle of the Convention. We are ready to work on language for this matter.

President,

12. Despite these concerns, the Group is of the view that the text is a good basis on which to continue our negotiations and on which a new iteration tomorrow.

13. The Group believes that addressing the key political and cross-cutting issues of differentiation, ambition and finance will unlock progress towards and enable many other issues to be resolved and brackets to be removed.

14. On issues, where consensus is within reach, the Group is of the view that further informal informals would be helpful to resolve outstanding matters.

15. It, however, remains important that the process of negotiations be open, transparent and Party-driven.

I thank you.