 |
|
|
|
Communications |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Malta's Participation in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change
|
|
Date:
16/12/2009
Malta is participating in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, Conference of the Parties (COP-15) currently taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Representatives from the Ministry of Resources and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are following the meetings at a technical level while Minister George Pullicino is heading the delegation for the High Level Segment, which started on Tuesday 15th December. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will be heading the delegation during the summit between 17th and 18th of December.
One of the items on the agenda of the COP-15 was Malta’s proposal, issued jointly with the European Community, to amend its status under the Kyoto Protocol. While Malta is already a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, it is currently listed as a Non-Annex I party. The Convention distinguishes between industrialized countries and countries with economies in transition. The former are designated as Annex I parties with quantified emission limitations or reduction targets, whilst the latter are countries that are not listed in Annex I to the Convention and therefore do not have emission targets. Through the amendment tabled last week, Malta has requested to be included among the Annex I parties.
As stated by Ambassador Victor Camilleri when introducing Malta’s proposal during the Conference:
‘Over twenty years ago Malta was instrumental in launching the initiative at the United Nations which culminated in 1992 in the adoption of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. In joining the Convention Malta assumed the status, commitments and obligations of a Non-Annex I party.
In 2004 Malta became a Member State of the European Union. As a consequence of membership, Malta assumed, under the EU internal legislation and common policies, reporting obligations on inventories, policies and measures and projections, that are as extensive as those of Annex I parties.
For Malta, inclusion in Annex I constitutes a reaffirmation of its continuing political commitment with respect to a global problem that Malta itself placed on the United Nations agenda in 1988, in the spirit of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities envisaged under the Convention. Such an inclusion also underlines Malta’s readiness to pull its weight fairly in the post-2012 Climate Change regime.’
Malta’s proposal to move to Annex I has drawn positive comments from the parties to the Conference. The adoption of the amendment is scheduled for Friday 18th December.
Malta’s Ambassador for Climate Change, Michael Zammit Cutajar is playing a key role in the tough negotiations taking place in Copenhagen as he is currently chairing one of the two ad-hoc working groups, the Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the UNFCCC. In 1991, Ambassador Zammit Cutajar was assigned to set up the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and headed it until his retirement early in 2002, holding the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. The two ad-hoc working groups convening during the Climate Change Conference are instrumental in drafting texts which will be the basis for discussions during the High Level Segment later this week. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
