Co-Chairs

1. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. We meet here at the last ADP inter-sessional meeting before Paris determined to build a firm base for a successful outcome in Paris.

2. As we have observed and emphasized many times before, developing countries are most seriously affected by the impacts of climate change and we face ever more frequent extreme weather events caused by climate change.

3. Developing countries are responding to the challenge of climate change, as is demonstrated by the submission of ambitious Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in both mitigation and adaptation by so many developing countries, as well as by the results achieved by these countries on reducing significantly greenhouse gas emissions in the pre-2020 period. This shows the willingness to address climate change, despite not being legally obliged to do so and in many instances without the finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support by developed countries that has been agreed through this process.

Co-Chairs

4. I wish to confirm the Group's commitment to work in a disciplined and constructive manner so that we can successfully fulfil our mandate from Durban by the end of this year. In this regard, the Group wishes to acknowledge the work that you have done inter-sessionally in preparing the Non-Papers containing a draft agreement and draft decisions, including on pre-2020 ambition.

5. The Group also welcomes the Co-Chairs' willingness to listen to the Group's views on the unacceptability of the Non-Papers as the basis for negotiations. We are pleased with the constructive and solution-oriented discussion we had with you bilaterally and with other Parties during your meeting with Heads of Delegations yesterday. As explained during those engagements, the Group of 77 and China is concerned that the text seems to attempt to rewrite, reinterpret and replace the Convention. It is extremely unbalanced and lopsided, to the extent that it jeopardizes the interests and positions of developing countries. We therefore concluded that the mandate given to the Co-Chairs was not fulfilled.

6. It is therefore a reassuring sign that our negotiating partners have heard our concerns and that we could agree to a pragmatic solution that would ensure that we are able to move forward to the real textual negotiation with urgency. We wish to note that now, more than ever, we need clarity on the mode of work to avoid further delays due to misunderstandings or misinterpretations of mandates.

7. We emphasize once again that the purpose of the outcome in Paris is to enhance the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention, not to create a new regime or rewrite, replace, renegotiate or reinterpret the Convention. It shall be under the Convention and in full accordance with its principles and provisions, in particular the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. It shall address the core elements mandated by the Durban Durban decision (mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity-building and transparency of action and support), as well as loss and damage and response measures in a comprehensive and balanced manner, both in the agreement and in the COP decisions. It is crucial that adaptation and mitigation receive the same priority. This must be supported by finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building on a scale that matches the level of action required to achieve the objective of the Convention as set out in Article 2 and Article 4 of the Convention. We once again urge developed countries to provide enhanced finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support to developing countries for ambitious mitigation and adaptation actions. In doing so, the principles and provisions of the Convention must be reflected in the elements of the agreement.

8. On Workstream II, it is essential that the work on pre-2020 ambition be treated in a balanced manner with Workstream I. The Group emphasizes that addressing the pre-2020 ambition gap is vitally important to a successful outcome of the Paris COP and will lay a solid foundation for enhanced mititgation and adaptation action post-2020. Developed countries must take the lead and honour, accelerate the implementation and increase the ambition of their existing commitments on mitigation and provision of finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building support to developing country Parties, with no backsliding, burden-shifting or reinterpretation of the Convention. The fact is that many promises related to the pre-2020 period still remain unrealised, including the nearly three-year delay in ratifying the Doha Amendment and increasing the emission reduction targets to at least 25-40% by 2020. There is also, as yet, no clarity on how the six-year old promise of providing the US$100 billion per year by 2020 will be achieved.

Finally, Co-Chairs

9. It is very important that the trust amongst Parties and their confidence in the process that has been built over time is retained and strengthened so that we can reach a successful outcome in Paris.

Thank you.