Regional groups and negotiating blocks
Negotiating Groups at COP 6
Based on the tradition of the UN, Parties are organised into five regional groups, mainly for the purposes of nominating candidates for election the Bureaux. These groups are Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and the Western Europe and Others group (WEOG) (the Others in WEOG are: Australia, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the US).
The five regional groups are not usually used to present the substantive interest of Parties and several other grouping are more important to the climate negotiations. These are referred to as Ïnegotiating groups.Ó
The Group of 77 and China
Developing countries generally work through the G-77 and China to establish common negotiating positions on issues of interest to them. With 133 members, the G77 is the largest coalition in the United Nations. It provides the means for the developing world to articulate and promote its collective interests and enhance its joint negotiating capacity on all major international environment, social, and economic issues in the United Nations system, and promote economic and technical cooperation among developing countries. This is a large and diverse group with differing priorities on climate change, and thus individual developing countries also intervene in debates, as do spokespersons of groups within the G-77. The current Chair of the G-77 and China is Nigeria. Click here for more information.
The European Union
The 15 members of the European Union (EU), along with the European Community (which is also a Party), meet in private to agree on common positions for the negotiations. The country that holds the EU presidency Ò a position that rotates every six months- speaks on behalf of the group as a whole. For more information, click here.
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
AOSIS is a coalition of 43 small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for small island developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system. Samoa currently holds the Chairmanship of AOSIS. For more information on AOSIS, click here.
ÏJUSSCANZÓ and the ÏUmbrella GroupÓ
Both these are coalitions of non-EU developed countries, which act as information-sharing and discussion fora. JUSSCANZ stands for Japan, the US, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand. Iceland, Mexico, the Republic of Korea and other invited countries may attend meetings. The Umbrella group is a variation of the JUSSCANZ coalition, although there is no formal list of participating countries. This group emerged following the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol.
Least Developed Countries
The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are officially designated as "least developed" by the General Assembly of the United Nations, i.e. by the world community as a whole, on the basis of a number of agreed criteria. Forty-eight countries are designated as LDCs. They announced their intention to negotiate as a group at the 13th sessions of the subsidiary bodies in Lyon, France. Vanuatu currently chairs this group. For further information, click here.
Group of States of Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Moldova
Environmental Integrity Group
This group emerged at the 13th sessions the subsidiary bodies in Lyon, France. It includes Switzerland, Mexico and South Korea. The group, encompassing countries that are not members of the other groups, aims at emphasizing the need to achieve "environmental integrity" in the outcomes of climate change negotiations.
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