LYON TALKS TO SET STAGE FOR MAJOR CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

Press Release
ENV/DEV/551

LYON TALKS TO SET STAGE FOR MAJOR CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

BONN, 30 August (UNFCCC) -- Government delegates from some 150 countries will convene in Lyon, France, from 11-15 September to finalize preparations for the ministerial-level round of climate change negotiations to be held in The Hague, Netherlands, in November.

The Lyon talks take place under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol -- the global agreement to minimize risks associated with climate change. Consensus between governments on key issues between now and November is expected to trigger the necessary ratification to allow the Kyoto Protocol to enter into force.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin will address the conference at its opening on Monday, 11 September. Dignitaries from other countries will include Jan Szyszko, President of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and former Environment Minister of Poland, and Jan Pronk, Dutch Environment Minister and President-designate of The Hague conference.

Michael Zammit Cutajar, Executive Secretary of the Convention, calls Lyon "a political opportunity to disentangle and thin out the negotiating issues on the table. Momentum towards consensus could be generated in Lyon by initial agreements on the North-South axis of negotiation under the Convention. These could recognize the vulnerability of developing countries, enhance their response capacity and provide incentives to shift their economic growth onto a climate- friendly path. They are the necessary ingredients in the package that will go before the Parties to the Convention in November that will ultimately determine if the Kyoto Protocol is to enter into force as a credible instrument of environmental protection and sustainable development."

Other key Convention issues relate to the transfer of technology and the special concerns of developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change or to the economic impacts of emission reduction measures by developed countries.

Also on the agenda are Kyoto Protocol issues such as the establishment of accounting methods for national emissions and their reduction, creation of rules that take into account the carbon stored in forestry "sinks", establishment of a compliance regime for monitoring implementation as well as the agreement on procedures for the operation of the Clean Development Mechanism and the emissions trading systems.

The Lyon talks will encompass the thirteenth sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation. These meetings are preceded by one week of informal workshops and discussions.

More than 2,000 participants are expected, including government delegates, representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations as well as the business community. Formal meetings will be complemented by 35 side events organized by non-governmental and other organizations.

The Kyoto Protocol (1997) will enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention, including developed countries and those with economies in transition representing at least 55 per cent of the total of 1990 carbon dioxide emissions from this group. So far, the Protocol has been signed by 83 governments and the European Community but only 23 countries, all developing, have ratified. The United States accounts for 36.1 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions, the European Union for 24.2 per cent, and Russia for 17.4 per cent.

The application form for media accreditation to the UNFCCC meeting in Lyon can be downloaded from http://www.unfccc.int, or may be obtained from Nardos Assefa in Bonn (see details below).

The dates are: From 4 to 9 September: informal meetings (not open to the press) and workshops; from 11 to 15 September: thirteenth session of the Subsidiary Bodies of the UNFCCC.

The venue is: Palais des CongrŠss de Lyon, 50 quai Charles de Gaulle, 69006 Lyon, France, Tel: (+33-4) 72 82 26 26, Fax (+33-4) 72 82 26 27, www.palais-des- congres.com.

Documentation for the Lyon meetings and information about UNFCCC can be accessed on the Internet at the following address: http://www.unfccc.int

Further information can be obtained from UNFCCC: Carine Richard-Van Maele, tel. (+41-22) 907 58 16/28, fax: (+ 41-22) 907 00 43; after 3 September (+33- 4) 72 69 68 99, fax. (+33-4) 72 69 68 76; e-mail crvm@unfccc.int; Michael Williams, tel. (+41-22) 917 8242/44, fax (+41-22) 797 3464, e-mail mwilliams@unep.ch; Nardos Assefa, tel. (+49-228) 815-1526, fax (+49-228) 815-1999; after 3 September: tel. (+33-4) 72 82 26 51, fax. (+33-4) 72 69 68 76; e-mail nassefa@unfccc.int; or Mission Interministerielle de l'Effet de Serre (MIES), France: Marie Jaudet, tel. (+33-1) 42 75 87 14, fax. (+33-1) 47 53 76 34, e-mail m.jaudet@mies.pm.gouv.fr; or Virginie Saugey, tel. (+33-4) 72 10 30 41, fax. (+33-4) 72 10 30 45, e-mail vsaugey@mairie-lyon.fr; Cecile Estenne, tel. (+33-4) 78 63 46 20, fax (+33-4) 78 63 40 82, e-mail cestenne@grandlyon.org.

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