Opening Plenary of the Twentieth Session of the Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 20)

Statement by Nepal on behalf of the Least Developed Countries Group

Lima, Peru

Mr. President, I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of Least Developed Countries, the 48 poorest and most vulnerable countries which contribute least to the problem, yet suffer the most.

We would like to associate this statement with the statements delivered by Bolivia on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

At the outset, allow me to congratulate you on your election as the President of the 20th Conference of the Parties and 10th Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Allow me also to take the opportunity to express my congratulations and sincere thanks through you, to the Government and people of Peru for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded to us. We are equally thankful to the Secretariat for their untiring efforts and excellent work in arranging this conference.

Mr. President, climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and represents an urgent and unalterable threat to human societies. The IPCC fifth assessment report confirms that the glaciers are melting, erratic rainfall pattern is leading to landslides and flood in some areas and prolonged drought in others are increasingly posing threats to the lives and livelihoods of our people. In recent decades, changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans. The increasing and intensifying risks associated with climate change constitute particular challenges for the least developed countries, given our limited capabilities to respond and cope to these adverse impacts. Therefore our demand for limiting average temperature rise to 1.5 degree above the pre-industrial level is very relevant.

Mr. President, as we advance our work on the post-2020 climate regime, it is therefore critical that the international community responds to the needs and priorities of the least developed countries. Lima is an opportunity for us to foster a real, concrete and action-oriented global response to climate change, putting the world on a path towards a climate-resilient sustainable future without compromising the survival of a single nation or population. For this we expect all Parties to double efforts and show bold leadership and ambition on all aspects of the negotiations. In this regard, we thank you for organising a ministerial dialogue on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action to take place during the high-level segment of the COP. We believe this meeting can foster trust and build confidence among all stakeholders, and help further the negotiations on the future agreement.

Mr. President, the LDC Group wishes to express thanks for organising ministerial dialogues on climate finance and Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, which are critical issues for our countries. The recent pledges made to the Green Climate Fund are encouraging, yet insufficient. We are still very far from reaching our target of at least USD 100 billion per year by 2020.We furthermore urge Parties to scale up their contributions to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) as well and remove any conditions attached. For NAPAs alone, an estimated USD 5 billion is needed, yet less than USD 1 billion has so far been mobilised and paid out since the Fund’s establishment in 2001. We hope that these important issues can be resolved here in Lima.

Mr. President, further on NAPs, while we have initial guidelines for their formulation, there remains a great deal of uncertainty surrounding their implementation. In particular, we seek further clarity on the form of NAPs, mandate of various bodies supporting NAPs and their reporting. Furthermore, we now have several bodies supporting the NAPs, through the Least Developed Countries Expert Group, the Adaptation Committee, and for knowledge elements through the Nairobi Work Programme. However, we feel that the delivery of support is not matching the urgency for adaptation, and there is a need for clarity in mandates of all these bodies supporting NAPs. We request that time and effort be kindly allocated here in Lima for Parties to find a solution for ensuring the swift implementation of adaptation actions. In this regard, we urge you Mr. President to ensure that the SBI and SBSTA also take these issues into consideration during the session here in Lima.

Mr. President, turning to the CMP agenda, two years ago the CMP adopted the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol. The LDCs would now like once again to urge Parties to undertake three actions:

• First, we call on all Parties to speed up the ratification processes;
• Second, we call on all developed country Parties to the Kyoto Protocol to fulfil their promises made in Doha to review their quantified emission limitation reduction objectives and adjust their commitments to be in line with what is required by science;
• Third, the LDCs call for all Annex I Parties not participating in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to raise their level of mitigation ambition through comparable pledges.

Mr. President, finally, the LDCs are aware of the significant decrease in the price of carbon. We emphasize the necessity of exploring options to increase the price of carbon through the establishment of appropriate carbon price floors and improvements to the modalities and procedures of the CDM through the adoption of the revision document which is on the table.

Mr. President, before I conclude, allow me to commend you and further encourage your efforts to foster fair and openness and wide participation, by reaching out widely with different constituencies in your consultations. The Group would also like to assure you that we stand ready to support and work together with you in making the Lima COP a true success.

Thank you Mr. President.