3 December 2007  

At the opening press conference of the thirteenth Conference on Climate Change, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Yvo de Boer, shared the platform with Indonesian Environment Minister and freshly elected Conference President, Rachmat Witoelar, who spoke first. Mr. de Boer began his statement by endorsing the words of Mr. Witoelar that the two-week negotiations will not deliver a fully negotiated and agreed climate deal, but are rather aimed at setting the necessary wheels in motion for a future climate change regime.

With almost record numbers of participants and media making this one of the largest conferences to date, Mr. de Boer said that the eyes of the world were on the meeting looking for a political answer to the signals given by the international scientific community through the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The morning's opening session was “very upbeat,” Mr. de Boer said, culminating in long applause when Australia announced its ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, which he called ”a very significant political decision.” He said that all countries except two who have been party to the Protocol have been disappointed to see two very important countries – the United States and Australia – take the decision not to ratify the Protocol, but that that group was now reduced by half. The long applause, he said, reflected appreciation for the courage shown by Australia in dramatically shifting its position and engaging more strongly with the international community on climate change, something which bodes well for Australia’s future role in the negotiations.

The important issues of implementation raised by many speakers during the morning session pointed to the importance of examining these issues as well as talking about the future, Mr. de Boer said, since they are a priority, especially for developing countries. One of the principal issues is adaptation, with many speakers pointing to the need to make the Adaptation Fund operational and get resources flowing to developing countries to help them adapt to the impacts of climate change. Another is technology transfer, with a number of speakers calling for greater mobilization of resources to facilitate it.

Statements made on the future he called ”very encouraging.” Pakistan, on behalf of the G77, indicated its willingness to constructively engage in the dialogue, while several groups of countries referred to a formal launch of negotiations. Mr. de Boer pointed to the annoucement by Minister Witoelar of his intention to put in place a contact group to look specifically at these issues.

Citing energy efficiency, renewable energy and alternative fuels such as biofuels as being a critical part of the answer to cimate change, Mr. de Boer added that fossil fuels are nevertheless here to stay, with continued reliance on coal, oil and gas as the world economy continues to grow. It is ”almost inconceivable”,” he said, to expect countries like China, India and South Africa that have an abundance of coal resources at home not to exploit that resource, adding that the key part of the challenge is to develop the technology which will enable the use of fossil fuels in a cleaner way.