Distr.

LIMITED

FCCC/SBSTA/1999/L.7

9 June 1999

Original: ENGLISH

SUBSIDIARY BODY FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVICE

Tenth session

Bonn, 31 May - 11 June 1999

Agenda item 3

1. The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) expressed appreciation for the statement given by the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and welcomed the Special Report on Aviation and the Global Atmosphere. It also welcomed the information provided on preparations for the Third Assessment Report, the special reports on (i) methodological and technological issues in technology transfer, (ii) emissions scenarios of greenhouse gases and aerosol precursors, and (iii) land-use, land-use change and forestry, as well as the report on good practices in inventory management.

2. The SBSTA requested the IPCC to continue with its work and looked forward to the forthcoming reports. It took note of the need of the IPCC for sufficient resources to prepare the reports referred to in paragraph 1 above, which are important to advancing work under the Convention, and urged Parties to contribute generously to this end.

3. Noting that there are many relevant activities under way in other United Nations bodies, the SBSTA expressed the need for these to be brought within the context of the UNFCCC process, and to be consistent with decisions of the Conference of the Parties (COP), in particular with decision 7/CP.4. The SBSTA welcomed the initiative of the secretariat to bring together four United Nations bodies, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the United Nations Development Programme, and encouraged it, within available resources, to continue drawing upon their contributions for the joint project on capacity-building for developing countries for the clean development mechanism, taking careful account of relevant decisions and conclusions of the COP and its subsidiary bodies, in particular the conclusions on agenda item 12 of the SBSTA at its current session (see paragraph -). It noted the decision of the United Nations Foundation to provide partial funding to the project through the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), and encouraged the secretariat to seek further funding for this effort, from bilateral and other sources, to support capacity-building activities within the Convention process, in accordance with the decisions of the COP.

4. The SBSTA requested the secretariat, resources permitting, to continue to explore with these and other United Nations partner organizations, including the Global Environment Facility and its implementing agencies, other areas where their expertise and resources could support the various work programmes under the Convention process, and to inform it at subsequent sessions on progress achieved.

5. The SBSTA noted with appreciation the reports by representatives of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on the substantive linkages between climate change and their conventions.

6. The SBSTA welcomed the efforts of the secretariat to explore possible ways of cooperating with the secretariats of other conventions, in particular the UNCCD and the CBD, in order to strengthen cooperation on issues of common interest, bearing in mind the relevant decisions of the COP. It encouraged the secretariat to continue consultations with the relevant secretariats, and to inform it on the outcome of these consultations at subsequent sessions of the subsidiary bodies.

7. The SBSTA noted that the secretariat would assess its capacity to carry out the activities requested in these conclusions in the light of the programme budget for 2000-2001 to be recommended by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation for approval by COP 5 and would report back on this matter to the SBSTA at its eleventh session.