16 March 2010, New York, USA

“I am pleased to note that 110 countries representing more than 80 per cent of global emissions have expressed support for the Copenhagen Accord,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told journalist at a press conference on 16 March 2010, referring to the non-binding agreement reached at COP 15 last December. He called this a critical step towards the next major UNFCCC Climate Change Negotiations which will take place in Bonn, Germany, from 9 to 11 April 2010.

Mr. Ban also reiterated that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will continue to lead international climate negotiations with the aim of striking a global, binding deal on climate change at the next Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of this year. In preparation for COP 16, the UN is working closely with the Mexican Government and other Member States as part of a “confidence-building process”, trying to have at least two or three more working group meetings before the gathering in Cancun.

Asked by a reporter about the possibility of a two-track negotiation process – with the UNFCCC process on the one hand and separate talks among emerging and big economies on the other – Mr. Ban said that this is “not desirable.” Given the large number of Member States, he acknowledged that it is sometimes necessary to break into smaller groups to build consensus, although the official negotiation process should be along UNFCCC lines.

The week before, the UN Secretary-General had announced an independent and comprehensive review of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading, independent body to review science on climate change. This is to re-establish the credibility of the IPCC which has recently been criticized for a miscalculation in the rate of Himalayan glacier melt and other errors. “I am encouraged by the response of governments, scientific institutions and environmental activists to the launch of the independent review of the IPCC,” said Mr. Ban Ki-Moon during the press briefing.