UN Climate Change Talks Bangkok, 31 March to 4 April 2008

Last year, Indonesia hosted the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP13) in Bali (from 3 to 14 December). The Bali conference reacted to the overwhelming scientific evidence of global warming, set out in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),which put the reality of human-induced global warming beyond any reasonable doubt.

Governments decided on a Bali mandate, which compels them to agree on a new climate deal by December 2009 that will cover the issues of emission reductions, mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology and forests. However, the Bali meeting agreed only on the broad strokes of the topics that the negotiations should cover, and avoided specifics.

Key Issues:
The UN Climate Talks in Bangkok – the first meeting after the Bali conference – is about developing an ambitious timetable to complete the complex negotiations on a new climate deal in time for the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. “Bangkok is all about getting the timing, rhythm and focus of the negotiations right,” said Kathrin Gutmann, Climate Policy Coordinator, WWF International. “Governments need to enshrine the spirit of Bali in a workplan that reflects the ambition to achieve deep emission cuts in the next 10 to 15 years.”

The Bangkok workplan has to address the questions of financing, technology cooperation, adaptation, and mitigation in North and South head on. “The Bangkok talks will be the first test to see if the governments in Bali negotiated in earnest,” said Kathrin Gutmann. “Governments must not shy away from the politically difficult questions in the negotiations.”

The urgency of taking action against climate change is undisputed. “The least developed countries have made it very clear – they are already feeling the heat, and they find it unbearable,” said Diane McFadzien, Climate Policy Coordinator for Asia-Pacific. “The Bangkok talks must set out speedy and productive negotiations, and plan how to overcome obstacles and road blocks.”

Spokespeople:
Kathrin Gutmann, Climate Policy Coordinator, WWF’s Global Climate Deal Programme, [49] 162 29 144 28, gutmann@wwf.de.
Diane McFadzien, Senior Climate Policy Advisor for Asia-Pacific, WWF’s Global Climate Deal Programme, [679] 992 18 72, dmcfadzien@wwfpacific.org.fj.

Experts:
Several WWF experts on specific issues such as adaptation, carbon markets, forests, and on specifc countries (including Brazil, India, Poland, US, Germany) are attending the conference. Please contact them through the media contacts.