Opening of the thirty-ninth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 39)

Statement by Nepal on behalf of the Least Developed Countries Group 

Warsaw, Poland

Mr. Chair and distinguished delegates,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the LDC Group. The LDC group associates itself with the statements made by Fiji on behalf of G77 and China, Swaziland on behalf of the Africa Group, and the statement to be made by Nauru on behalf of AOSIS.

First of all, let me congratulate you, the coordinators as well as the co-chairs for various reports and the secretariat for the hard work with which you have prepared for this session. The progress reports, compilation of information and other various reports on different agenda items were indeed very helpful for our preparation for this session.

Chair, there are numerous issues of paramount importance to our Group that are being dealt under SBSTA. For example, issues related to Agriculture, Adaptation Committee and technology mechanism are key focus areas for us. Work on the 2013-2015 review, Nairobi Work Programme and methodological issues related to REDD+ and the Kyoto Protocol are also key areas that our Group closely follows.

Over the past years, we have reiterated that the Nairobi Work Programme should deliver meaningful outcomes on the ground. LDCs have seen very little evidence of it in our countries. We have made some significant suggestions on its linkages to adaptation related work and future work areas in our submissions. We look forward to constructive discussions on this agenda item.

The drivers of deforestation pose a formidable challenge in our countries. Unless we address these and related issues and find ways of supporting LDCs by building capacity and providing substantive finance, we could become the victims of even more deforestation.

Agriculture is vital for food security and socio-economic development of the LDCs in our countries. Therefore, we are keen to solve the issues related to agriculture under SBSTA. We have made a submission on this agenda item and look forward to constructive discussion on this issue in Warsaw.

The LDC Group believes that non-market based approaches have an important role in global action in addressing climate change impacts. To date the issue has not received due attention it deserves. We call for greater effort to address the role of non-market based approaches. We also believe that a precautionary approach must be applied for the establishment of a new market mechanism.

On the development and transfer of technology. We want the adoption of the modalities and procedures of the CTCN without delay to fully operationalize the technology mechanism.

The completion of the 2013-2015 review is of high priority for us so we hope that this session will make concrete progress. We also request that informal consultations with Parties on the expected work for 2014 planned in this session be conducted in an inclusive and transparent manner.

We have made number of submissions on different agenda items under SBSTA. We look forward to elaborating on these submissions further and having constructive discussions when the related items are taken by the respective bodies.

We look forward to working with you and all Parties. We assure you of our full support in your work ahead.