UNFCCC Executive Secretary addressing the media on the final day of the Bangkok Talks.
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Addressing the media on the final day of the Bangkok session, Yvo de Boer spoke of a constructive two weeks of talks, and said that all the ingredients for a successful outcome in Copenhagen are on the table.

World leaders set out a clear mandate to prevent dangerous climate change at last month's New York summit, he said. In Bangkok, their negotiators have shown rapid progress on concrete ways to implement the mandate, but are still hanging on to long-held differences.

Mr. de Boer stressed the urgency of raising ambitions and bridging the disconnect, adding that now is the time to step back from self interest and let common interest prevail.

With the next session in Barcelona only three weeks away, Mr. de Boer said he hopes negotiators will use the time to go back to those world leaders who called for a breakthrough in Copenhagen and get from them a mandate to resolve the key political issues that remain outstanding.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer addressing the media at the end of the first week of Talks in Bangkok
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At a press conference held midway through the Talks in Bangkok, Yvo de Boer spoke of encouraging signals that the Talks can deliver the tools and rules essential to a successful climate change deal in Copenhagen.

Solid progress has been made already in some key areas of a global agreement, such as adaptation, technology and capacity-building in developing countries. However, there is lack of clarity on two issues that are key to success in Copenhagen: rich nation emission reduction targets and financial support for climate change action in developing countries.

De Boer stressed the importance of generating finance, stating that commitment from world leaders without the means to implement it would prevent the world from acting fast enough to beat dangerous climate change.

Negotiators are beginning to slim down the text and identify key options. Next week, he said, they must focus even harder on what must be in a Copenhagen text and what can be cut out or left till later.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer briefing the press on the opening day of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks
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Briefing the media on the opening day of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks, Yvo de Boer said that Bangkok was important in delivering some real answers on what should be the key elements of a Copenhagen agreement.

Referring to a series of important climate change meetings over the past week, he welcomed the sincere commitment by Heads of State and Government to see a comprehensive, fair and ambitious deal on climate change in Copenhagen in December. Bangkok was critical, he said, in putting these political intentions into practical language that can constitute a Copenhagen agreement.

Calling the progress of negotiations "painfully slow," Mr. de Boer called for higher ambition from industrialized countries to cut emissions and for financial support to help developing countries engage.

He also underlined significant moves forward, including
recent climate change initiatives by both China and India, and Japan’s pledge to increase substantially its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

Statement by Yvo de Boer at the opening of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks 2009
Bangkok, Thailand
28 September 2009
Addressing delegates at the opening of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks, Yvo de Boer stressed that the talks must end with an evident spirit of cooperation and with evident progress. The UNFCCC Executive Secretary anticipates that the pace of action in the negotiations can and will match an increasing pace of action currently observed at the highest level.
Statement (85 kB)

Pace of UN Climate Change Negotiations Set to Pick Up in Bangkok as Result of New York Climate Change Summit
Bangkok, Thailand
28 September 2009
Government delegates meeting in Bangkok, Thailand embarked Monday on the penultimate round of climate change negotiations ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, at which a comprehensive international climate change deal is to be sealed. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva opened the two-week meeting.
Press release (127 kB) French (129 kB) Russian (185 kB) Spanish (121 kB)