(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) Chairman of Qatar's Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA), HE Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, who is also the President of the Climate Change Conference (COP18), said Friday that the second ministerial dialogue on sustainable development, currently held in Tokyo, Japan presents an ideal opportunity to underscore a couple of fundamental issues that would contribute to a successful COP18, scheduled to be held in Doha in November.
"First- we need an agreement on a 2nd Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol a streamlined, all inclusive negotiation process, along with an institutional structure to advance and implement a global agreement. Deep divisions remain," HE Al Attiyah said in a speech delivered at the start of a session.
The meeting was attended by Qatar's Minister of Finance, HE Yousef Hussain Kamal, Qatar's ambassador to Japan, HE Yusuf Bin Mohamed Bilal as well as the accompanying delegation of HE Al Attiyah.
"Second- Finance to support developing countries in their mitigation and adaptation efforts is a "make or break" aspect of the Doha negotiations," HE Chairman of ACTA added.
He noted that the board of the Green Climate Fund is working on its operationalization and that it is likely to take 2-4 years before the 100 billion pledged, can start disbursing at scale.
While early climate action in developing countries can be supported by the fast Start Financing this is merely for the interim years of 2010 to 2012. so, this leaves us with an 8 years financing gap starting 2012 to 2020, without any collective commitment by developed countries to support climate action in developing countries," he added.
Al Attiyah noted that developing countries regard such a commitment to interim financing as a litmus-test for demonstrating overall commitment by developed countries to reaching a global agreement in accordance with the objectives of the Climate Convention.
He also emphasized four key points that should be taken in consideration in the run up to COP18 in November.
Primarily, "the developing countries need to further clarify investment opportunities and build solid investment pipelines with strong accountability frameworks to ensure scaled up and transformational investment streams," he said.
Secondly, "the developed countries need to consider how best to enable scaled up support to climate action in developing countries, after expiry of the Fast Start Finance period, and before the Green climate Fund becomes operational," he added.
Thirdly, "while remaining fully committed to the swift operationalization of the Green Climate Fund, we need to consider applying existing channels and instruments whether bilateral, global or multilateral- to sustain scaled up financial support after 2012," his excellency said.
"And finally, the announcement of pledges to support climate action after 2012 are critical for nurturing a sense of trust and confidence among governments," he noted.
