Meeting of Negotiators of Like-Minded Developing Countries Concludes; Javadekar Lauds Work Done by LMDC

Meeting of Negotiators of Like-Minded Developing Countries Concludes; Javadekar Lauds Work Done by LMDC 

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar lauded the quality of work done by the two-day meeting of negotiators of Like-Minded Developing Countries. Addressing the concluding session of the meeting here today, Shri Javadekar expressed the hope that the Bonn session in October will come out with an equitable, acceptable, pragmatic text and not a lop-sided text. The Minister said that Paris can be a success, if nations do not indulge in a blame-game. 

Negotiators from 13 nations participated in the meeting of LMDC. The nations include Argentina, Bolivia, China, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Malaysia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and India.

A statement was issued at the conclusion of the LMDC meeting. The following is the text of the statement:

“The climate change negotiators of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) met in New Delhi on September 14-15, 2015. Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, Shri Prakash Javadekar, inaugurated the meeting.

The meeting was convened to take stock of the climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC and provide a perspective of the LMDC on the way forward for the Paris agreement.

The LMDC expressed deep disappointment with the lack of text-based negotiations in the last session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) in Bonn. They were deeply concerned with the slow pace of negotiations given the limited negotiating time left before COP21/CMP11 in Paris.

The LMDC looked forward to the new documents to be issued by the Co-Chairs in the first week of October. The new documents should be based on the Geneva Negotiating Text and the views and submissions of Parties in the ADP sessions. They were of the firm view that the new documents must be comprehensive, balanced and capture the positions of Parties reflected during the negotiations without prejudging or interpreting the emergence of convergences. The documents should include clear options reflecting different views from Parties on all key issues.

The LMDC called for text-based negotiations in the right earnest at the next Bonn session in an inclusive, open, transparent and Party-driven negotiating process. They reiterated that the UNFCCC is the primary intergovernmental forum to negotiate the global response to climate change.

The LMDC underscored that the objective of the Paris agreement is the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention in accordance with Article 2 and the Convention’s principles and provisions, in particular the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and the developed countries taking the lead. They stressed that differentiation between developed and developing country Parties across each element of the agreement is essential for enhanced ambition and effectiveness of the new agreement.

The LMDC agreed that the Paris Agreement should not be mitigation-centric but must address in a balanced and comprehensive manner the six elements identified in the Durban mandate — mitigation, adaptation, finance, capacity-building, technology development and transfer, transparency of action and support, as well as loss and damage in a balanced manner. The LMDC also emphasized that the Paris agreement should comprehensively recognize and address the adverse social and economic impact of response measures in developing countries, while the Paris outcome in general, must provide modalities to enhance, develop and implement meaningful actions to avoid and address the negative consequences of response measures.

With regard to mitigation, the LMDC underscored the need for the provisions of the agreement to fully reflect differentiated responsibilities and distinct development stages of developed and developing countries, with developed countries taking the lead by undertaking ambitious, economy-wide, absolute emission reduction targets and providing finance and technology support to developing countries. Developing countries will enhance their efforts, in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, enabled and supported by finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building from developed countries.

The Paris agreement should ensure the provision of adequate support by developed countries to developing countries in meeting their needs and costs of adaptation actions, and responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.

The LMDC reiterated that the developed countries, in accordance with their historical responsibilities, must provide additional, predictable and sustained climate finance, distinct from ODA, to developing countries for their enhanced climate actions both for the pre- and post-2020 period. They expressed concern regarding shifting the financial burden to developing countries and the attempt to expand the list of countries with obligations under the Convention to provide climate finance and at the same time shrink the list of countries eligible for receiving climate finance. The LMDC also called on the developed countries to provide a clear roadmap for the fulfillment of USD 100 billion per year by 2020.

The LMDC were of a strong view that ambition and progression are reflected in all the elements and not just mitigation. Ambition and progression are also to be seen in context of specific national circumstances and development imperatives of developing countries as well as the level of financial, technological and capacity building support to be provided by developed countries.

The LMDC expressed strong reservation against any obligatory review mechanism for increasing individual efforts of developing countries. Any aggregate stocktaking or review of implementation must be for both action and support, taking into account differentiated commitments of developed and developing countries.

The LMDC reiterated their view that the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) have to be comprehensive and cover all elements in accordance with Article 4 of the Convention. It is up to each country to define the timeframe of its INDCs given the nationally determined nature of the INDCs.

With regard to the ADP Workstream 2, the LMDC stressed that the pre-2020 ambition gap shall be primarily addressed through the acceleration of implementation of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and the outcome of the Bali Action Plan. They reiterated their concern with the inadequacy of developed countries’ current commitments on emission reductions and provision of financial and technological support.

As developing countries face multiple challenges in terms of social and economic development and poverty eradication, the LMDC are undertaking ambitious actions domestically on climate change.

The LMDC welcomes the initiative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to convene the “World People’s Conference on Climate Change and Defence of Life” to be held in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia, from October 10-12 2015, aimed at strengthening the efforts of the people of the world to build a culture of life in defence of Mother Earth.

The LMDC expressed their continued willingness to participate in the negotiations in a constructive, consensus-building and Party-driven manner to reach an ambitious, comprehensive, equitable and balanced Paris outcome.

The LMDC expressed deep gratitude to the Government of India for hosting the meeting of LMDC climate change negotiators in New Delhi, India.”