Just ahead of the mid-year climate change session at Bonn, starting on May 14, the least developed countries (LDCs) have issued a call for efforts to be directed towards raising ambition on mitigation for the pre-2020 period, calling it the sine qua non of a successful outcome on the new Durban Platform negotiations.
The upcoming two weeks in Bonn will witness all parties begin fresh round of negotiations to draw up a new protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which should be implemented by 2020. The urgency of the situation is reflected in LDCs' submissions to UNFCCC, which urges all parties to stay ahead of schedule in charting out a framework for a new protocol post-2020 and avoid the familiar trap of leaving most of the issues for the last minute. A reading of the submissions, though, shows that despite new emerging alliances, parties remain divided over fundamental issues such as differentiated responsibilities and legal form of the new protocol.
The LDCs have stepped up their ante by saying they cannot wait. “We are already feeling the effects of climate change, but the time has come for us to be leaders in the international effort to address this global challenge,” said Pa Ousman Jarju, chair of the LDC group.
Besides drawing up a specific timeline and plan towards meeting the ambitious target of drawing up the new framework by 2015, the LDC group has made very clear demands on the form and content of the new framework.
