The second meeting of the Climate Change negotiation process begun on Monday 6 June in Bonn, Germany. The resumed sessions of the Ad-Hoc Working Group under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), as well as the 34th sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, will take place over the next two weeks and conclude June 17.

JORGE ARGÜELLO, Ambassador of Argentina to the United Nations and Chairman of the Group of 77 and China, presided over the preparatory meetings of the Group throughout the previous weekend.

The Group of 77 and China is a strong supporter of the Convention and has participated actively and constructively in the negotiations, which must continue to make progress in the two-track approach, both under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.

The Chair of the Group of 77 and China, which includes 131 developing countries from all regions and different realities in the world, stated that "The Group shares a high level of ambition for the outcomes of Durban, and we trust that with the guidance and leadership of South Africa we will be able to achieve progress in the next Conference of the Parties. An agreement on a Second Commitment Period under the Kyoto Protocol to ensure there is no gap in its application is one of the key outcomes that would make it a successful meeting. Its continuity demands a strong political decision from all parties. Our work during these coming two weeks must move us forward towards that goal".

The Kyoto Protocol is a key element for the international climate regime, since it is the only legally binding instrument that establishes concrete mitigation commitments for the Parties.

Another important issue is the prompt operationalization of the institutional frameworks and organisms created in Cancun, such as the Green Fund, the Adaptation Committee and the Technology Committee, a long-standing aspiration of the Group that need to be put into operation as soon as possible and must count with the necessary financial and hunan resources to achieve their full potential for change.

It is in this spirit that the Group promoted a balanced and comprehensive agenda that was adopted in Bangkok, resisting the temptation to reduce the discussions to a handful of technical questions that would practically have meant forgetting about the overall goal of keeping global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. A goal that already seems very hard to reach in the current levels of commitment.

The Group is ready to continue making progress in the implementation of the institutional frameworks and organisms created in Cancun within the Bali Roadmap, without giving up on those important questions that have not been resolved yet and where further discussion is needed if we are to find an effective and sustainable solution.

Ambassador ARGÜELLO added that "The developing countries in the Group of 77 and China are coming to Bonn with the expectation of a fruitful and substantial meeting, where we can begin to map out the agreements to be adopted in Durban at the end of the year. We hope all parties will be showing the same positive and constructive spirit that allowed us to bridge our differences in Cancun and Bangkok.

We understand our position is based in the respect of international law and a strong commitment to multilateralism. What we want is to preserve our Earth for our people and the coming generations".