UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer addressing the media on the last day of the Barcelona Climate Change Talks.
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Addressing the media on the final day of the Barcelona talks, Yvo de Boer said that progress had been made during the week and that he was confident that Copenhagen would deliver a strong deal, which must include the immediate implementation of key actions in developing countries.

Mr. de Boer spoke about the strong sense that the Kyoto Protocol needs to continue. He also said that the Copehagen agreement must record, in black and white, the accountable commitments of individual governments.

He stressed the urgency for industrialized countries to raise their ambitions and, in particular, the importance of the U.S. announcing a clear, numerical mid-term emissions target. There was also a need, he said, for industrialized nations to provide clarity on the amount of short- and long-term finance to which they will commit.

With Copenhagen just four weeks away, Mr. de Boer said that Barcelona had underlined both in a dramatic and in a quiet way that commitment and compromise will make Copenhagen the turning point.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer addressing the media on the opening day of the Barcelona Climate Change Talks.
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Speaking to the press on the opening day of the Barcelona Climate Change Talks, Yvo de Boer said the two-year Bali mandate to deliver a comprehensive, fair and effective answer to the climate threat must now be fulfilled. He underlined that over 100 world leaders committed to success in Copenhagen at the New York Summit on Climate Change in September.

While the Barcelona meeting is unlikely to resolve the big issues on finance and emission reduction targets, it is critical in terms of putting the essential architecture in place to make a Copenhagen agreed outcome function.

Highlighting the significant advances in the negotiations on adaptation, technology transfer, capacity-building and reducing emissions from deforestation (REDD), he said Barcelona can shape these advances into language that can make them essential components of a Copenhagen agreed outcome.

Mr. de Boer said that some details of implementation will be left till after Copenhagen, but Copenhagen can and must capture a result to which nations can be held accountable.

Notification to Parties and observer States regarding the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations, Barcelona, 2 to 6 November 2009 (208 kB)

Notification to Intergovernmental organizations and Non-governmental organizations regarding the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations, Barcelona, 2 to 6 November 2009 (42 kB)