Co-Chairs,

1. I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, a group of 134 developing countries, representing about 85% of the world's population.

2. Throughout the ADP process, we have reiterated that not only do developing countries face threats to their achievement of sustainable development, but also the very existence and survival of countries, societies and the ecosystems of our Mother Earth. It is for this reason that developing countries have had no choice but to act against climate change, even in the absence of adequate finance, technology and capacity-building support by developed countries, as clearly demonstrated by the communication of INDCs by the majority of developing countries.

Co-Chairs,

3. Because climate change is such a serious and urgent threat for developing countries, you can be assured that no group of countries is as committed as the G77 and China to a successful conclusion of our work under the ADP. I, therefore, wish to reiterate that the Group is fully committed to work in a disciplined and constructive manner.

4. We wish to re-emphasise that the objective of the ADP is to enhance action and to promote the full and effective and sustained implementation of the Convention through the strengthening of the multilateral rules-based regime under the Convention. It is not within the ADP's mandate to replace, rewrite or reinterpret the Convention, its principles and provisions, in particular the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities. These principles and provisions of the Convention must be reflected in the elements of the agreement.

5. The Paris outcome must address the core elements mandated by the 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. Adaptation and mitigation must 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 of the Convention. In this regard, we urge developed countries to provide enhanced finance, technology development and transfer and capacity-building support to developing countries for ambitious mitigation and adaptation actions.

Co-Chairs,

6. When we met in Bonn in October, much time was lost because we started with a text that was very unbalanced. Nevertheless, we believe that the text that we now have is a suitable basis to continue our negotiations.

7. There is not much time left to conclude our work and we must therefore engage in substantive negotiations. We must be all very conscious of the fact that process will be crucially important for the success of the COP.

8. In order to make progress, we suggest that cross-cutting and overarching issues, e.g. purpose, long-term goal, differentiation, progression, ambition and the cross-cutting aspects of finance and the legal nature of different obligations across the text, be discussed in the Contact Group. As progress on these cross-cutting issues is essential to unlock the difficulties that are experienced in the Facilitation Groups dealing with mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity building, and final clauses, these discussions will accelerate the work in the Facilitation Groups.

9. Postponing these important discussions in the Contact Group will not be helpful. We hasten to say that we do not have time for more conceptual discussions and these discussions must be aimed at developing concrete proposals in the Facilitation Groups.

Co-Chairs,

10. On Workstream II, it is essential that the work on pre-2020 ambition be treated in a balanced manner with Workstream I. The Group emphasises 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 mitigation 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.

11. The fact is that commitments by developed countries related to the pre-2020 period still remain unrealised, including the delay in ratifying the Doha Amendment and increasing the emission reduction targets of developed countries to at least 25-40% by 2020.

12. There is also, as yet, no clarity on how the commitment of developed countries of providing the US$100 billion per year by 2020 to developing countries will be achieved, nor do we have any predictability on continuation of the provision of finance with clear targets for the post-2020 period.

Finally, Co-Chairs,

13. 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 here in Paris, in a manner that is open and transparent, inclusive and Party-driven.

Thank you.