Mr. Chairman,

1. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

2. Allow me at the outset to express my deep appreciation to the Government and people of Germany for hosting this important meeting in the historical city of Bonn. We also thank the Secretariat for their excellent work regarding the arrangements for this meeting.

3. I would also like to express to you, Mr. Chair, our full support and collaboration. The Group of 77 and China is committed to help move this process forward in a constructive and proactive manner.

Mr. Chairman,

4. The Group of 77 reiterates its serious concern with respect to the slow progress of the AWG-KP in completing the milestones of its work programme, as adopted in the Poznan session. The primary objective of this session is to reach a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, in order to avoid any gap between the 1st and the 2nd commitment periods.

5. In the meantime, developing countries are experiencing more and more the adverse effects of climate change, including the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The Group also underlines the challenges faced by developing countries from the impact of response measures. Developing countries are the most affected and, at the same time, the ones that have contributed less to the creation of the climate change problem and the situation we currently face. Therefore, historic responsibilities cannot be disregarded.

Mr. Chairman,

6. The Group is concerned at the attempts to erode the relevance that the Kyoto Protocol has as a key cornerstone of the multilateral climate change regime.

7. Substantive discussions on scale of emission reductions in aggregate as well as joint and individual contributions of Annex I Parties must be concluded to overcome the wide gap between the pledges put forward by Annex I Parties and what is required by science, equity and historical responsibility.

8. The Group is willing to engage in a discussion of the rules, but it is clear that the political will to have a second commitment period is key for the technical issues to go forward productively.

Mr. Chairman,

9. I would like to conclude by reiterating that the Group will continue to support you and is committed to constructive, party-driven and transparent negotiations in this session in order to ensure that a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol is reached as part of a balanced and comprehensive outcome in Durban.

10. Let me underscore that time is upon us. All Parties must do their best to find common language that can be acceptable to all Parties and a level of ambition in line with our shared goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperature rise.

I thank you Mr. Chairman.