Mexico presided over the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) today at the COP16/CMP6 in Cancun. Ambassador Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, COP16/CMP6 President, welcomed all participants.

The working group, founded in 2007, was established to debate and create agreements to address topics such as mitigation and adaptation financing strategies in developing countries.

Representatives of Grenada, Democratic Republic of Congo, Belize, Australia, Tajikistan, European Union, Venezuela, Lesotho, Guatemala and Bangladesh, opened the session and highlighted:

    •    The importance of taking concrete actions to stop the damages caused by climate change worldwide
    •    Set the foundation for a balanced ecology future
    •    Their interest to make the climate conference in Cancun a success

Claudia Salerno, Delegate of Venezuela, applauded the commitment shown in 2010 in which Mexico succeeded in creating an environment of trust and credibility, and she foretells that it will be reflected in concrete results at the end of the COP16/CMP6.

"An ambitious outcome is urgent and, in Cancun, decisions of a legally binding agreement must be adopted no later than 2011" she highlighted.

Keywords
Kyoto protocol, strategies, financing, mitigation, adaptation, granada, congo, Belize, Australia, european union, ue, Venezuela, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Lesotho, Tajikistan, México, cop16, cmp6, Cancun