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Global Change: Strategy Task Force Meeting - 2/21/91
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Global Change: Strategy Task Force Meeting - 2/21/91
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
2005-0336-F
2005-0336-F
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
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George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
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Science and Technology Policy, Office of (OSTP)
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Bromley, D. Allan, Files
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Global Climate Change Files - Conferences/Meetings
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62060
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62060-004
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Global Change: Strategy Task Force Meeting - 2/21/91
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THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
February 19, 1991
MEMORANDUM FOR THE GLOBAL CHANGE STRATEGY TASK FORCE
FROM:
D. ALLAN BROMLEY
NMfn
SUBJECT:
Global Change Strategy Task Force Meeting
The Global Change Strategy Task Force will meet on Thursday, February 21, 1991, at
4 p.m. in Room 324 of the Old Executive Office Building.
We will review the results of the first negotiating session of the Framework
Convention on Climate Change and discuss where the negotiations may be headed
over the upcoming months. Bob Reinstein, US Negotiator for the Framework
Convention, will present a summary of the meetings as well as a discussion of the
final decisions made during the two-week session.
Attached for your reference are copies of the UN Press Release, which provides a
good summary of the negotiations, and the Annex on Organizational Matters. The
latter document defines how the negotiations will be conducted and includes
guidelines for the negotiations, organization of Working Groups, and a listing of
several procedural points.
UNITED
A
NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr.
LIMITED
A/AC.237/L.5
14 February 1991
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING
COMMITTEE FOR A FRAMEWORK
CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
First session
Washington, D.C., 4-14 February 1991
Agenda item 3
ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS
Draft decision submitted by the Chairman
Establishment of subsidiary organs and organization of work
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on
Climate Change
1. Decides to establish two Working Groups to assist the Committee in
carrying out its work;
2. Adopts the guidelines for the negotiations, organization of Working
Groups and procedural points contained in the annex to the present decision.
ANNEX
I. GUIDELINES FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS
1. All items in the negotiations should be dealt with in an integrated
manner and on the basis of General Assembly resolution 45/212 of
21 December 1990, which inter alia, reaffirms the principles embodied in
General Assembly resolutions 44/207 and 44/228, both of 22 December 1989.
2. The work of the groups must be interrelated and will be integrated by the
plenary. To this end the two Working Groups will report regularly to the
plenary.
3. Funding commitments, mechanisms and means for transfer of technology to
developing countries, as well as matters concerning international scientific
and technological co-operation, should be an integral element in the
negotiations.
WA.91-186 MT023E
/
A/AC.237/L.5
English
Page 2
4. The final agreement on the convention should cover in an integrated
manner all areas of common concern, including, inter alia: (a) emissions;
(b) sinks; (c) transfer of technology; (d) financial resources and funding
mechanisms for developing countries; (e) international scientific and
technological co-operation; and (f) measures to counter the effects of climate
change and its possible adverse impact, particularly on small island
developing countries, low-lying coastal, arid and semi-arid areas, tropical
regions liable to seasonal flooding and areas prone to drought and
desertification.
II. ORGANIZATION OF WORKING GROUPS
5. The Working Groups will prepare draft texts for consideration by the
plenary.
A. Working Group I: Commitments
6. Working Group I will prepare a text related to:
(a) Appropriate commitments, beyond those required by existing
agreements, for limiting and reducing net emissions of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases, on the protection, enhancement and increase of sinks
and reservoirs, and in support of measures to counter the adverse effects of
climate change, taking into account that contributions should be equitably
differentiated according to countries' responsibilities and their level of
development;
(b) Appropriate commitments on adequate and additional financial
resources to enable developing countries to meet incremental costs required to
fulfil the commitments referred to above and to facilitate the transfer of
technology expeditiously on a fair and most favourable basis;
(c) Commitments addressing the special situation of developing
countries, taking into account their development needs, including, inter alia,
the problems of small island developing countries, low-lying coastal areas and
areas threatened by erosion, flooding, desertification and high urban
atmospheric pollution; also taking into account the problems of economies in
transition.
B. Working Group II: Mechanisms
7. Working Group II will prepare a text related to:
(a) Legal and institutional mechanisms, including, inter alia, entry
into force, withdrawal, compliance and assessment and review;
A/AC.237/L.5
English
Page 3
(b) Legal and institutional mechanisms related to scientific
co-operation, monitoring and information;
(c) Legal and institutional mechanisms related to adequate and
additional financial resources and technological needs and co-operation, and
technology transfer to developing countries corresponding to the commitments
agreed to in Working Group I.
III. PROCEDURAL POINTS
8.
There will be no more than two meetings held at any one time within the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.
9.
There will be no inter-sessional meetings of the Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee Working Groups or any subgroups.
10. All drafting is to be done by each Working Group, within the framework of
its mandate, subject to any subsequent need for harmonization.
11. If and when it is deemed necessary, the Working Groups, subject to the
approval of the Intergovermental Negotiating Committee, may establish ad hoc
subgroups to deal with specific issues, with due respect to the understanding
that no more than two meetings may be held at any one time. These groups
would be reviewed continually to allow reformulation and adjustment in order
to reflect the progress of the negotiations.
United
NM
Press Release
Department of Public Information News Coverage Service New York
Intergovernmental
ENV/CCC/11
Negotiating Committee
14 February 1991
on Climate Change
11th Meeting (PM)
and Round-up of Session
INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE FOR FRAMEWORK CONVENTION
ON CLIMATE CHANGE, WASHINGTON, D.C., 4-14 FEBRUARY
Sets up Working Groups; Adopts Guidelines for Negotiations;
Urges Contributions for Developing Countries' Participation in Process
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a framework
convention on climate change this afternoon established two Working
Groups to assist it in negotiating an international instrument to
reduce global climate warming.
Working Group I will deal with appropriate commitments for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, additional financial resources to
enable developing countries to fulfil their obligations under the
convention, technology transfers and the special needs of developing
countries. Working Group II will consider the legal and institutional
mechanisms of preparing the framework convention.
In the same decision, the Committee adopted guidelines for the
negotiations on a framework convention on climate change, the
organization of the Working Groups and procedural points on the
holding of meetings and on the drafting to be done -- all contained in
an annex.
It emphasized in those guidelines that all items in the
negotiations should be dealt with in an integrated manner; that the
(more)
For information modia-not an official record
- 2 -
Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
work of the groups must be interrelated and integrated by the plenary;
and that funding commitments, mechanisms, technology transfer and
international scientific and technolological co-operation should be an
integral element in the negotiations,
Concluding nearly two weeks of deliberations at the Westfields
International Conference Center, near Washington, D.C., the Committee
also adopted a decision urging contributions to a special voluntary
fund set up by the General Assembly to support the participation of
developing countries in the negotiating process.
As of 13 February, contributions to the fund totalled $1.25
million, and a number of countries indicated that they were
considering pledges, some on a bilateral basis. Today, the
representative of Japan announced a $200,000 contribution to the fund.
Regarding relations with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) -- an expert group whose scientific and technical
findings on climate change formed the basis of an assessment report
which was before the Committee during the session -- the Committee
concluded that relationship had already been set out in General
Assembly resolution 45/212.
The Committee said the IPCC was not a negotiating forum and that
in continuing its work, as mandated by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the
Panel could provide technical and scientific assistance in response to
the requests of the Committee.
The Committee, in another decision, expressed its profound
gratitude to the Government and people of the United States for their
warm and generous hospitality and for the excellent facilities
provided during the Committee's first session.
At the final meeting today, the Committee adopted, as amended,
its report (document A/AC.237/L/1 and Corrs. and Adds 1-4), which was
introduced by Vice-Chairman and Rapporteur Ion Draghici (Romania).
Concerning the dates for future sessions, it decided,
provisionally, that its second session would be held at Nairobi, from
1 to 15 June; and that the second and third sessions would take place
at Geneva, from 9 to 18 September and 9 to 20 December, respectively.
The Committee postponed the election of officers of the two
Working Groups until its next session, because of a lack of consensus
among the regional groups on representation.
(more)
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Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
The Executive Secretary of the Committee and Director of the ad
hoc secretariat made a statement on funding of the negotiating
process, including the secretariat's operating budget.
The representatives of the Soviet Union, Vanuatu, Cuba, Greece
and Zaire, on behalf of the five regional groups, expressed thanks to
the host Government, the Chairman and Secretariat staff.
In a concluding statement, the Chairman, Jean Ripert (France),
warned delegates not to leave the session believing that all the
Committee had done was talk about procedural things. Because of the
nature of the endeavour, concerns and interests, it had been necessary
to spend time talking about mandates. Delegates, he said, should
leave the meeting with an awareness of having done useful work.
The Assembly, in resolution 45/212, established the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare an effective
framework convention on climate change, containing appropriate
commitments and any related legal instruments as might be agreed upon.
That instrument, the Assembly said, should be completed prior to
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de
Janoiro, Brazil, in June 1992, and opened for signature during that
Conference.
A "framework" for a convention consists of a statement of general
principles identifying the major issues to be considered and defining
general areas where Governments should assume commitments to specific
actions.
In that connection, the guidelines for the negotiations, which
the Committee adopted today, state that the final agreement on the
convention should cover, in an integrated manner, all areas of common
concern, including emissions; sinks (forests) transfer of technology;
financial resources and funding mechanisms for developing countries;
international scientific and technological co-operation; and measures
to counter the effects of climate change and its possible adverse
impact, particularly on small island developing countries, low-lying
coastal, arid and semi-arid areas, tropical regions liable to seasonal
flooding and areas prone to drought and desertification.
The first session of the Committee began on 4 February. Opening
the meeting on behalf of Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar was
Antoine Blanca, Director-General for Development and International
Economic Co-operation. Representing the host Government, the United
States, was Michael R. Deland, Chairman of the President's Council on
Environmental Quality.
(more)
- 4 -
Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
Also addressing the opening meeting were the Executive Director
of UNEP, Mostafa K. Tolba, and the Secretary-General of the WMO,
G.O.P. Obasi. Those two agencies gave momentum to the negotiation of
a convention on climate change in 1988 when they jointly established
the IPCC.
During three days of general debate, on preparations for the
elaboration of an instrument on climate change, the Committee heard a
total of 76 speakers -- 68 Member States and eight representatives of
specialized agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations.
Statement by Executive Secretary
MICHAEL ZAMMIT CUTAJAR, Executive Secrtary of the Committee and
Director of its ad hoc secretariat, speaking on the funding of the
negotiating process, including the secretariat's operating budget,
said the adequacy of estimates made for staff and conference servicing
costs, as well as the source of funding for heads of expenditure,
would have to be examined in the light of the work plan emerging from
the session. He recalled that in adopting the resolution which
established the Committee and its secretariat, the General Assembly
had received a statement indicating that no additional appropriations
would be required in respect of the programme budget for the 1990-1991
biennium. No reference had been made about the source of funding for
heads of expenditure.
The expenditures he had in mind, he said, were, for example,
requirements for general operating costs, travel, consultants and
documentation. Costs might also be incurred for activities aimed at
raising awareness of the issues under negotiation, particularly in
developing countries. Those could include public information work and
dialogue with non-governmental organizations. When those matters had
been clarified, it would be possible to estimate the overall cost of
the negotiating process, to match that estimate with the resources
available from the United Nations budget and from the budgets of other
entities of the United Nations system.
It was his intention, he said, in consultation with the Chairman,
to present such estimates to the Committee in advance of its next
session. That would enable Governments to assess the need for
contributions to the trust fund and to respond to it, hopefully in
advance of the session.
The question of staffing and location of the secretariat would be
taken up with the responsible departments at United Nations
Headquarters, he continued. No one, other than himself, had yet been
assigned to the secretariat of the Committee, and the ad hoc
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Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
arrangements for servicing the current meeting were specific to it.
On staffing, he would consult with the executive heads of UNEP and
WMO, as well as other bodies, on the possibilities for secondment of
staff.
As regards the location of the secretariat, he said there were
several options in Geneva, which he would explore on his return there
next week. It would be desirable to find a location which would
maximize the ability of the Committee secretariat to draw upon
existing infrastructures, thereby minimizing its own staffing and
support needs. He drew attention to document A/AC.237/INF.2, entitled
"Temporary secretariat arrangements", which indicated the present
office address in Geneva where he might be reached until further
notice.
Action on Organizational Matters
The decisions adopted by the Committee on organizational matters
(document A/AC.237/L.5) cover three aspects of its future work:
guidelines for the negotiations; organization of working groups; and
procedural points.
The mandates of the two Working Groups, which will prepare draft
texts for consideration by the plenary, are as follows:
Working Group I, on commitments, will prepare a text containing
commitments for limiting and reducing net emmissions of carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases; on the protection, enhancement and
increase of sinks and reservoirs; and in support of measures to
counter the adverse effects of climate change, taking into account
that contributions should be equitably differentiated according to
countries' responsibilities and their level of development.
That text will also contain commitments on adequate and
additional financial resources to enable developing countries to meet
the costs required to fulfil their commitments, as well as commitments
to facilitate the transfer of technology on a fair and most favourable
basis.
The text to be prepared will also include commitments addressing
the special situation of developing countries, taking into account
their development needs, including the problems of small island
developing countries, low-lying coastal areas and areas threatened by
erosion, flooding, desertification and high urban atmospheric
pollution, as well as the problems of economies in transition.
Working Group II, on mechanisms, will prepare a text containing
legal and institutional mechanisms related to: entry into force,
(more)
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Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
withdrawal, compliance and assessment and review of the convention;
scientific co-operation, monitoring and information; and adequate and
additional financial resources and technological needs and co-
operation, as well as technology transfer to developing countries
corresponding to the commitments agreed to in Working Group I.
On procedural points, the Committee decided that there will be no
more than than two meetings held at any one time; no inter-sessional
meetings either of the working groups of any subgroups; all drafting
is to be done by each working group, within the framework of its
mandate, subject to any subsequent need for harmonization; and, if and
when necessary, the working groups, subject to Committee approval, may
establish ad hoc subgroups to deal with specific issues, on the
understanding that no more than two meetings may be held at any one
time.
Relationship with IPCC
Stating that the modalities of its relationship with the IPCC had
been set out in Assembly resolution 45/212, the Committee welcomed
suggestions that the Panel should continue with its work (document
A/AC.237/L.1/Add.4). It said the Panel was not a negotiating forum,
and that in continuing the work mandated by UNEP and WMO, the Panel
could provide technical and scientific assistance in response to the
Committee's requests.
The Committee said it was desirable that the IPCC continue to
seek and achieve the full participation of developing countries in all
aspects of its activities, and that it should encourage the widest
possible participation of experts and of relevant international and
other organizations in its work. It said the IPCC's work should cover
both the short term and the long term, helping the Committee in its
work on the framework convention.
Special Voluntary Fund
In a decision on the use of the special voluntary fund to support
the participation of developing countries in its work (document
A/AC.237/L.1/Add.4), the Committee welcomed the intention of several
Governments and a regional organization to contribute to the fund;
urged Governments which had not yet done so to contribute at an early
date; and expressed the hope that those which had already done so
would make further contributions. It also urged relevant United
Nations bodies, in particular the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), UNEP and WMO, to contribute generously to the fund.
The Committee requested the Executive Secretary, in determining
the eligibility of countries for access to the fund, to bear in mind
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Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
the following, in addition to the criteria set out in resolution
45/212: the vulnerability of countries to the rise in sea level,
drought and desertification and severe weather disturbances; the
importance of financing the attendance of experts, including
scientists, as members of delegations from developing countries;
adequate regional representation of developing countries; and the
important role of regional organizations in providing suitable
technical support to the effective participation of developing
countries in the negotiating process.
Donors and recipients of financial assistance were invited to
keep the Executive Secretary informed of their relevant funding
arrangements so that the special voluntary fund might be used to the
greatest effect. And the Executive Secretary was requested to
facilitate the full participation of all countries entitled to
participate, by ensuring the timely distribution of notifications,
documentation and other information well in advance of Committee
sessions.
Rules of Procedure
The Committee adopted its rules of procedure (document
A/AC.237/5) on 11 February. Up until then, difficulties had centred
on those rules dealing with decision-making, in particular, rule 27 on
general agreement, and rule 29 on majority required.
As adopted, rule 27 states: "The Committee shall make its best
endeavours to ensure that the work of the Committee is accomplished by
general agreement. If, in the consideration of any matter of
substance, all efforts by the Committee and its Chairman, pursuant to
the provisions of rule 5 (on general powers of the Chairman) have been
made and no agreement appears to be attainable, the Committee shall
thereupon decide upon the staps to be taken in accordance with rule
29.
Rule 29, as adopted, states: "Subject to rule 27, decisions of
the Committee and its subsidiary organs shall be taken in accordance
with the rules of procedure of the General Assembly and its
committees, respectively." The original version had called for
decisions on all substantive matters to be taken by a two-thirds
majority of the repesentatives present and voting. The Assembly's
rules require & simple majority of those present and voting.
History
The negotiation of a framework convention on climate change is
the latest development in a process which gained momentum in 1988 when
the WMO and UNEP jointly established the Intergovernmental Panel on
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Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
Climate Change. The Panel, consisting of climatologists, scientists,
government officials, policy advisers and environmentalists, examined
all available scientific information on climatic change, assessed its
environmental and socio-economic impact and proposed possible action.
After holding four sessions, the Panel issued its first assessment
report which provided the most authoritative scientific and technical
findings to date on climate change. That report was the main
background document before the Committee at this first session.
In 1988, the Assembly endorsed the establishment of the IPCC. In
1989, it emphasized the need to begin, as a matter of urgency, the
drafting of a framework convention on climate change. The preparatory
meeting for the Committee's first session was the meeting convened by
WMO and UNEP in Geneva (24-26 September 1990) of the Ad Hoc Working
Group of Government Representatives to Prepare for Negotiations on a
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Among the recommendations of that Group was the establishment of
a single negotiating process to discuss policy issues and respond to
Assembly decisions. At its current forty-fifth session, the Assembly
decided to set up the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to
prepare a framework convention on climate change, to be completed
prior to the 1992 Environment and Development Conference in Brazil.
Officers
The Committee elected Jean Ripert (France) as its Chairman, and
elected four Vice-Chairmen: Ahmed Djoghlaf (Algeria), Raul Estrada
Oyuela (Argentina), T. Prabhakar Menon (India) (later replaced by
Chandrashekhar Dasgupta of India) and Ion Draghici (Romania). Mr.
Draghici also acted as Rapporteur. The Alliance of Small Island
States sought the representation of small island developing countries
on the bureau.
Michael Zammit Cutajar was appointed Executive Secretary of the
Committee and Director of its ad hoc secretariat. Assuming his duties
on 11 February, he said he was convinced the Committee could
contribute to a more efficient and equitable use of the world's
resources to satisfy human needs and aspirations. Given that many
actions required to counter climate change were also justified on
other grounds, he saw prospects for a framework convention with
substantive commitments and with productive linkages to more general
programmatic initiatives in other policy areas.
(more)
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Press Release ENV/CCC/11
14 February 1991
Participants
The first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee
was attended by the representatives of 101 States, 11 United Nations
offices, seven intergovernmental and 69 non-governmental
organizations.
* *** *