Welcoming Durban Platform, Secretary-General Calls for Rapid Implementation

of Decisions on Technology Mechanism, Green Climate Fund

 

The following statement was issued on 10 December by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General welcomes the package of decisions known as the Durban Platform that was reached by the 194 parties to the Climate Change Convention in Durban today that will guide global efforts to address the causes and impacts of climate change.  The Durban Platform represents a significant and forward agreement that defines how the international community will address climate change in the coming years.

The Secretary-General believes the decision to launch a protocol or legal instrument applicable to all parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is essential for stimulating greater action and for raising the level of ambition and the mobilization of resources to respond to the challenges of climate change.  He welcomes the agreement to establish a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol that will increase certainty for the carbon market and provides additional incentives for new investments in technology and the infrastructure necessary to fight climate change.

The Secretary-General also is gratified that countries have reached decisions that will operationalize the Cancun Agreements, including a technology mechanism that will promote access by developing countries to clean, low-carbon technologies and an Adaptation Committee that will coordinate adaptation activities on a global scale.  He also welcomes the launch of the Green Climate Fund, and is gratified that a number of countries have signalled their intent to contribute to the Fund.

Taken together, these agreements represent an important advance in our work on climate change.  The Secretary-General calls on the parties to quickly implement these decisions and to continue working together in the constructive spirit evident in Durban.

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For information media • not an official record