31 July 1997

ENGLISH ONLY

UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

AD HOC GROUP ON THE BERLIN MANDATE

Seventh session

Bonn, 31 July - 7 August 1997

Item 3 of the provisional agenda

In addition to the submissions already received (see FCCC/AGBM/1997/MISC.2 and Add.1), a further submission has been received from the United Republic of Tanzania (on behalf of the Group of 77 and China).

In accordance with the procedure for miscellaneous documents, this submission is attached and is reproduced in the language in which it was received and without formal editing.

FCCC/AGBM/1997/MISC.2/Add.2

GE.97-70210

Paper No. Page

1. United Republic of Tanzania 3

(on behalf of the Group of 77 and China)

(Submission dated 9 July 1997)

Framework compilation contained in documents FCCC/AGBM/1997/2 and Add.2.

On Agenda item 3(a), the Group of 77 and China reiterates its position presented to the last session of AGBM that the basis for action should be in accordance with the provisions of the Climate Change Convention and the Berlin Mandate contained in decision 1/CP.1.

The following preliminary comments are focused on the documents FCCC/AGBM/1997/2 and FCCC/AGBM/1997/2/Add.1.

The commitments in Article 4.2(a) and (b) of the FCCC, for developed country/other Parties included in Annex I, should be strengthened by:

- identifying policies and measures for Annex I Parties which will contribute to limiting and reducing emissions by sources and protecting and enhancing sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases and will identify environmental and economic impacts and the results that could be achieved with regard to time horizons such as 2005, 2010 and 2020.

- ensuring that the necessary policies and measures to be adopted by the Parties and to be applied by Annex I, will have no adverse impacts on socio-economic conditions of developing country Parties, especially those listed in Article 4.8 of the FCCC.

The G-77 and China is concerned by the introduction of any Annexes which may engage non-Annex I Parties in undertaking any new commitments in a Protocol or another legal instrument.

On the issue of AIJ, according to decision 5/CP.1, such initiatives between Annex I Parties and non-Annex I Parties will not be seen as fulfillment of current commitments of Annex I Parties under Article 4.2(b) of the Convention but they could contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Convention and the fulfillment of commitments of Annex II Parties under Article 4.5 of the Convention. AIJ under the Convention are supplemental and should only be treated as a subsidiary means of achieving the objective of the Convention and in no way modify the commitments of each Party under the Convention. In addition, no credits shall accrue to any Party as a result of GHG emissions reduced or sequestered during the Pilot Phase from AIJ. The Group of 77 and China, furthermore, agreed that these initiatives during Pilot Phase, are voluntary.

These are preliminary views and comments on the framework compilation.

1. The Group of 77 and China reaffirm their commitments under Article 4.1. In particular, the fact that this commitment in all its provisions under (a) to (j) apply to all Parties.

2. The Group of 77 and China position on Article 4.1 as stated in the framework compilation clearly lies within the Berlin Mandate and is consistent with Article 4.1 (a) to (j) of the UNFCCC.

3. On technology transfer, we reiterate the following positions:

* provisions of the Convention under Article 4.5 must, of necessity, be fulfilled. Furthermore, references need to be made on crosscutting issues in the Agenda 21 in its Chapter 34 on technology transfer as this is an issue that underlies the whole of Agenda 21 and other sustainable development activities.

* technology transfer commitments cannot be diluted by scrutinizing its use in a Protocol or another legal instrument in this Convention.

* technology transfer should be considered as an integral part of advancing the implementation of Article 4.1 of the Convention.

4. The G-77 and China is ready to continue cooperating in the implementation of the Convention. This is on condition that necessary financial resources, transfer of environmentally sound technologies and know how, introduction programmes for building endogenous capacities and capabilities are in place through the fulfillment of Article 4.3, 4.5 and 4.7 by the Annex I Parties consistent with the provisions of the Convention. In addition, consideration must be given to the implementation of Articles 5 and 6.

The Group would like to reiterate that the statements that Tanzania has made on behalf of the G-77 and China be placed on record and should be reflected in the report of these sessions.

The Group of 77 and China recognizes the important discussions which took place in the

non-groups. These discussions were useful but we wish to underscore once again that substance determines form. Therefore, for the next session the following points will be important to the G-77 and China:

(i) The Group joins the discussions on the premise that, as a start, we put off the table all that is outside the Berlin Mandate.

(ii) There should be agreement in numbers before advancing implementation of Article 4.1 can be discussed.

(iii) The Articles of the Convention shall apply to the provisions of the protocol/another legal instrument.

In addition to the proposals already tabled by the Group of 77 and China in December 1996, the Group of 77 and China will this afternoon, time permitting, table further proposals.

These proposals will have to be read together with proposals that have been submitted by individual countries of the G-77 and China and groups of countries within the G-77 and China, which are consistent with, and complementary to, these proposals.

The Group of 77 and China will work together to develop these proposals further during the negotiations in July 1997.