WORLD
United Nations climate negotiations in Panama ended
Baku, October 8 (AZERTAC). A week of formal United Nations climate negotiations in Panama ended Friday with progress on drafting decision texts that will allow governments to push ahead in Durban with concrete help for the developing world to deal with climate change, said UN officials.
But delegates from developing countries and environmental groups expressed doubt that rich countries will provide the necessary financial support to help developing countries cope with climate change, despite their promises.
"Panama made good progress on preparing the decisions that will help developing countries adapt to climate change and get access to the technologies they need to create their own clean energy futures," said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC.
"This includes meeting deadlines for the launch of the new Adaptation Committee and Technology Mechanism, which were agreed at last year`s Cancun climate change conference," said Figueres.
"It also made clear progress on how efforts to limit emissions by developing countries will be matched with necessary support from developed countries in a transparent way," she said. This includes work on a new Registry to record and account for this effort, which was also agreed in Cancun.
The meeting in Panama City, which opened October 1, was the last formal negotiating session of the year in advance of the next annual UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, November 28 to December 9.
"Agreement on long-term finance must be at the foundation of the deal in Durban," said Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, from the Democratic Republic of Congo and chair of the African Group of countries. "We have demonstrated good faith in discussing new responsibilities for developing countries, we expect good faith from our partners in discussions how to implement their existing finance commitments."
The meeting in Panama City, which opened October 1, was the last formal negotiating session of the year in advance of the next annual UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, November 28 to December 9.