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

At the outset allow me to express the Group's full support and readiness to engage meaningfully with all the Parties to work constructively throughout this session, and to continue to move forward with the implementation of the Convention, its Kyoto Protocol and its Paris Agreement, towards the achievement of its objective, purpose and goals, in accordance with the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.

The Group trusts that under the guidance of the two Chairs and the leadership of the Republic of Fiji, we will achieve concrete progress in all the different agenda items of both the SBI and SBSTA agendas, through a comprehensive, coherent, balanced and Party-driven process. Furthermore, we call for a balanced and comprehensive treatment of all additional matters related to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, as mandated by the Paris Outcome.
 
The work under SBSTA has a direct impact for both the post-2020 implementation and for the enhancement of the pre2020 action, and in that regard, we would like to reemphasize the urgent need to enhance pre2020 action and support in finance, technology and capacity building from developed countries to developing countries, as a solid foundation for post-2020 implementation. The Group looks forward for the assessment of the progress of implementation of Decision 1 C.P/19 paras 3 and 4 on what Parties agreed to in Warsaw 2013 to accelerate the full implementation of the decision as agreed under the Bali Action Plan and in relation to the provision of means of implementation, including technology, finance and capacity building support for developing country Parties, recognizing that such implementation will enhance pre-2020 action, and will help to identify relevant opportunities to enhance the provision of financial resources, including technology development and transfer and capacity building support. The engagement of the SBI in this subject is needed.

On Agenda item 3, we recognize the progress under the Nairobi Work Programme on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, and the reports prepared by the Secretariat, while noting that these collaborative activities have enhanced the role of the NWP as a knowledge hub for enhanced action on adaptation and a knowledge-for-action network for climate resilience.

With regard to the report of the Adaptation Committee we welcome the progress in the implementation of the flexible work plan of the Committee for the years 2016-2018 in the areas of: promotion of overarching coherence; mandates arising from decision 1/CP.21, including the technical examination process on adaptation; the provision of technical support and guidance on adaptation actions and means of implementation to developing countries before and during the presentation of projects; and the increase of awareness, outreach and information-sharing.

We stress the need to fully implement Article 8 of the Paris Agreement as a matter of urgency, in order to allow a better integration of loss and damage issues into the broader ongoing work of the UNFCCC, to identify and implement concrete alternatives of support and cooperation for developing country parties that are increasingly experiencing losses and damages resulting from extreme weather events and slow onset events to facilitate this fully implementation. The G77 and China calls for loss and damages to be included as a permanent item on the agendas of the subsidiary bodies, with a broader and more inclusive scope of inputs from all parties that will be available at regular meetings of the subsidiary bodies, including the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage and its 5-year work program. In this regard we stress further our need for special financial resources from developed country Parties to cover activities and further actions in countries.

The Technology Executive Committee (TEC) is fundamental to identifying policies that accelerate the development and transfer of resilient technologies. Its join work with the CTCN is vital to strengthen the Technology Mechanism, especially for the provision of support for action in developing countries in order to implement the Convention and the Paris Agreement. Both, the TEC and CTCN should strengthen the linkages between both the Technology and the Financial Mechanism on matters related to technology and collaborative research and development, particularly with regard to the technology needs assessment (TNA) to formulate and implement national climate action plans.

Also, the development of the Technology Framework should take into account the challenges presented by the Agreement's long-term goals, to accelerate innovation, development, transfer, diffusion and implementation of technologies, in order to operationalize the vision of technology described in paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Agreement.

The Group considers that adaptation, including associated health and socioeconomic co-benefits, of agriculture and food production systems to the adverse effects of climate change, continue to be a key priority for developing countries, in light of the particular vulnerabilities of the agriculture sector and its relationship with ending hunger and achieving food security and nutrition.

On response measures, the Group reaffirms the importance of giving full consideration to identify necessary actions to meet the specific needs and concerns of developing country Parties arising from the impact of the implementation of response measures and to avoid the negative economic and social consequences of response measures on developing countries. The Group welcomes the invitation to the Pre-sessional workshop on modalities, work programme and functions under the Paris Agreement of the forum on the impact of the implementation of response measures and looks forward to the report, inputs and recommendations from the roundtable to support the work of the improved forum. The group also emphasizes the importance of fulfilling the mandate of Decision 11/CP21 and advancing the work on the pre-2020 and post-2020 tracks on the modalities, functions and work programs for the forum under the Paris Agreement.

In relation to the methodological issues under the Convention, we encourage all Parties to strengthen their efforts with regard to the common metrics to calculate the carbon dioxide equivalence of greenhouse gases in a manner that takes into account its linkage with the agenda item 3 of the APA on accounting for Nationally Determined Contributions, and the different capacities and needs of developing countries in this regard.

On matters relating to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, we reiterate our continued engagement to achieve progress in the guidance on cooperative approaches; the rules, modalities and procedures for the sustainable development mechanism; and on the work program under the framework for non-market approaches to sustainable development, in order to ensure their operationalization and effectiveness.

On the issue of modalities for accounting of financial resources provided and mobilized by developed countries, we would like to stress the importance of the interlinkages with articles 3, 4 and 13 of the Paris Agreement, particularly to provide a clear outline of the climate finance flows that are being channeled to developing countries, which are crucial to the implementation of climate action from the members of our group. Appropriate considerations need to be agreed upon in order to guarantee that financial resources are new, additional, predictable, appropriate and address the needs and priorities of developing countries.

On Agenda item 13 the Group welcomes the report by the Secretariat about the proposal on the operationalization of the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Platform established in the Paris decision. Nevertheless, the Group believes that much more still needs to be done, including with regard to the enhancement of the participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in climate action, the protected share of their traditional knowledge and best practices on mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner. In this sense the Group will engage constructively in this discussion with the view to achieve a concrete result at this COP in the design of an effective platform within the UNFCCC that benefits our local communities and indigenous peoples.

Mr. Chair, in relation to the agenda of the SBI,

The Group believes that the organization of the workshop of the facilitative sharing of views (FSV) under the international consultation and analysis(ICA) that Will take place on November 10th, is crucial to reinforce MRV under the Convention and should lead to identify the capacity building needs of developing countries in order to facilitate reporting of information in preparing future BURs.

On the provision on financial and technical support, the Group regrets to bring to your attention the increasing difficulties and conditionalities faced by several developing countries in accessing financial resources from the GEF, including through the establishment of program priorities and eligibility criteria that have not been agreed at the intergovernmental level. The Group is deeply concerned about the no response from GEF to continued communication of these parties.

The Group expresses its deepest concern that some developed countries are unilaterally applying into the decision making processes eligibility criteria that are not agreed to and that limit the access of funding to developing countries under the GCF; such criteria is not compatible with guidance from the COP and is a clear departure from the letter and spirit of the Convention and the Paris Agreement. We also feel that the process and procedures of these institutions are creating continuous additional barriers to access financial resources for climate action, which severely undermine the level of ambition of developing countries in the global effort against climate change. Also we expect this issue to be clearly addressed in the guidance of the COP to the financial mechanism.

On development of modalities and procedures for the operation and use of a public registry referred to in Article 4.12 of the Paris Agreement (NDC), the group recalls that Nationally Determined Contributions communicated by parties shall be recorded in a public registry maintained by the secretariat' and that art. 7.12 establishes the same provision for the adaptation communications. We also believe that the registration needs to be made only by the focal point, and that the registry must be clear and transparent, ensure security and avoid any possible manipulation.

With regard to National Adaptation Plans, the Group reaffirms the important role of adaptation planning in reducing climate vulnerabilities of local communities and looks forward to address the interlinkages between national adaptation plans and means of implementation, with a view to enhance access to finance and technology support and capacity building for the formulation and implementation of the NAPs.

On item 10, we think that the work must continue on the approach and modalities for the periodic assessment of the Technology Mechanism in relation to supporting developing country parties in the implementation of the Paris Agreement; the evaluation should be coherent, cross-functional, and participatory. We believe that it should take into account sustainable development, gender, global action and the special needs and circumstances of the developing countries.

On Capacity Building, we welcome the sharing of experiences and lessons learned in the 6th meeting of the Durban Forum on "Enhancing capacities for adaptation in the context of NAPs and NDCs", but much more needs to be done in this regard, including in relation to the annual monitoring and evaluation of the Capacity Building framework in Developing Countries. We hope that we can make concrete progress in relation to the development of capacities for developing countries, taking into account their need of resources, planning and monitoring of capacity development activities. We also welcome the launch of the work of the Paris Committee on Capacity Building, and we expect that through its first report and work program, a transformation of capabilities on a global scale for the achievement of the Agreement long term goals is pursued.

On the Standing Committee on Finance, we note that there is a lack of funding for the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts. It also needs to look into the issue of linkages and overall coherence among the mechanisms under the Convention, specially the relation between the Financial Mechanism and the Technology Mechanism, as well as in the light of the ongoing work on the transparency regime under the Paris Agreement and the related upcoming APA round table. We stress the need for the SCF to stay engaged in these ongoing processes.

On agenda item 10, we call for additional contributions from developed countries for the LDCF of the GEF for the LEG. We also recognize the technical guidance and advice provided by the LEG to LDCs on the process to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans, and on accessing funding from the Green Climate Fund, for the formulation of NAPs. We encourage the active engagement and collaboration of the LEG with the Adaptation Committee, the Paris Committee on Capacity Building, the Nairobi Work Program among others.

On budget, we look forward to engaging with Secretariat on the 2018-2019 Biennium Budget Program and we look forward for the Technical Workshop that will take place during this session.

The Group of 77 and China highlights the importance of Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) to enhance actions in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and the National Determined Contributions (NDCs), in accordance with Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.
 
We look forward to engage on the issue of common timeframes for Nationally Determined Contributions, as mandated by Article 4 paragraph 10 of the Paris Agreement.

The Group expresses its support to the on going negotiations to adopt the Gender Action Plan, which will be an important deliverable of COP 23, as mandated in Decision 21/CP.22, under the Lima Work Programme. In this regard, we highlight that gender-responsive climate policy still requires further strengthening in all activities concerning adaptation, mitigation and related means of implementation, finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building, as well as decision-making on the implementation of climate policies. We look forward to engaging with partners and advance this important agenda.

We also express our concern on negative implications resulting out of unilateral coercive economic measures for climate action in developing countries, to avoid undermining developing countries capacities to fight climate change and the rights to live of our peoples.

Finally, the G77 and China conveys its appreciation to both of you Chairs, and reaffirm its commitment to continue engaging in the process during this COP.

Thank you very much.