Distinguished Chairs and Co-Chairs,

Ecuador has the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. At the outset, the Group would like to thank you, Madame Co-Chairs, and all the facilitators under your able leadership, for your efforts during this session.

The Group would like to reiterate its constructive engagement in all the negotiations of the APA agenda during this past two weeks, with the responsibility of advancing the work program me for the implementation of the Paris Agreement under the Convention, and the achievement of its purpose and objective respectively.

As the adverse effects of climate change are more and more evident, we need to keep the political momentum, recalling that this level of political engagement allowed the adoption and early entry into force of the Paris Agreement.

We need to maintain the delicate balance achieved in the Paris Agreement, the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of the different national circumstances, the provision of flexibility for developing countries in all the different tracks of the design of the work progamme under the Paris Agreement, and the provision of means of implementation, especially finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building for developing countries.

These elements should be taken into account transversally in the work programme and the level of substantive progress in the negotiations must be indeed accelerated to ensure a successful conclusion of the work programme under SBSTA, SBI and APA by COP24.

In that regard, we acknowledge the importance of the tools developed by the Secretariat to provide an overview of the work that is needed and to facilitate the identification of all the linkages and interlinkages between the work of COP and the bodies, in relation to the work programme of the Paris Agreement.

To advance such work programme, we believe that the informal notes prepared at this session reflecting the views and proposals that we as Parties have worked on, must reflect faithfully the outcomes of the work undertaken by the APA, the SBI, the SBSTA and the COP on all matters related to that programme. We look forward for the reflections note to be presented with an overview of this session and options for the way forward on the basis mentioned above, reflecting the inputs and options from all Parties in a balanced manner.

On Agenda Item 3, we reiterate our view that the guidance should respect both the diversity and the nationally determined character of NDCs, as well as the national circumstances of developing countries, and that it should assist Parties with the preparation and communications of their NDCs in order to facilitate clarity, transparency and understanding of Parties' contributions. This guidance should be developed in a flexible manner to accommodate the diversity of NDCs, their nationally determined nature, and the national circumstances of developing country Parties. At the same time, we call upon developed countries to provide finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support to developing country Parties for the preparation, communication and implementation of their NDCs.

On item 4 of the APA agenda, our group continues to support the priority of adaptation and the urgency of action in terms of the growing needs of developing countries. We have maintained our common position as a contribution to advance the work under this agenda item, reaffirming that adaptation communication should not be prescriptive, but anchored in the flexibility and with a view to achieve the necessary support according to our priorities and needs. We consider that this session has been fruitful to the extent that the advances were accurate. However, we have different challenges, such as refining the skeleton, advancing on the placement of information and continuing the discussion on linkages between adaptation efforts by developing country Parties and support provided by developed countries.

On Agenda Item 5, our Group recognizes the progress made in the development of the modalities procedures and guidelines for the transparency framework on action and support. We participated on the basis of the mandate given in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement which clearly provides different purposes for transparency of actions and support, in accordance with the relevant articles of the Paris Agreement. Nevertheless, one of the main purposes of this framework should be to clarify information on financial, technological and capacity-building support that developed countries provide and mobilize to developing countries for their implementation of climate actions under the Paris Agreement; and also to enable developing countries to evaluate their needs and define their priorities in terms of finance, technology and capacity-building. In that regard, we reaffirm that enhanced support enables enhanced action and that enhanced action requires enhanced support. Therefore, both transparency of actions and transparency of support must progress in a balanced manner.

On Agenda Item 6, our Group appreciates the constructive and participatory manner in which the consultations were undertaken. In particular, because of the importance that the Group attaches to the inclusion of equity considerations into the GST, the Group appreciates the substantial amount of time allotted and the informative engagement by all Parties on the issue of how to reflect and make equity operational in the process and outcome of the GST. The informal note containing the co-facilitators' understanding of Parties' views and options with respect to the possible building blocks for the GST provides Parties with a good tool for moving forward in the next resumed session of the APA to substantive discussions and the development of a negotiating text on the GST, although we should note that it can still be improved because it does not fully capture the wide range and diversity of the views and inputs provided by Parties at this and previous sessions nor the output of previous sessions.

On Agenda item 7, we recall the nature of the Article 15 Committee to promote compliance and facilitate implementation which shall be facilitative in nature and function in a transparent, non-adversarial and non-punitive manner, reflecting the different responsibilities, national circumstances and capacities of developed and developing country Parties under the Convention and its Paris Agreement. In this regard, we reaffirm that the Committee shall pay particular attention to the respective national capabilities and circumstances of Parties, and its guidance and assistance must include all the elements and provisions of the Paris Agreement.

On agenda item 8, we reiterate the urgent need to decide on their different processes including, inter alia, in relation to the communication of information on public finance by developed country Parties, the Forum on the Impact of the Implementation of Responses Measures to serve the Paris Agreement, the Adaptation Fund to serve the Paris Agreement, the Financial Mechanism as well as the LDC Fund and the SCCF under the Paris Agreement, the establishment of a new long term financial goal, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries. We further stress the importance and significance of the modalities to communicate the information on provision of finance by developed country Parties in accordance with Article 9.5 of the Paris Agreement, which deserve more attention and balanced treatment in 2018.

Madame Co-Chairs, we reiterate our continued constructive engagement with you and with all the rest of the delegations to achieve a successful and balanced outcome on all the agenda items, and we look forward for any advanced information in relation to additional negotiation time between the 48th session of the subsidiary bodies and COP24, highlighting the importance of continue to ensure an open and inclusive, transparent, effective and Party-driven process, allowing for the participation of delegates from developing countries.

Thank you.