The State of Qatar and the Republic of Korea
have agreed to closely cooperate to make the next major UN Climate Change
Conference at the end of 2012 a success.
The 2012 UN Climate Change Conference, COP 18/CMP 8 (the 18th Conference of
Parties to the UNFCCC, plus the 8th session of the Conference of the
Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol), will
take place in Qatar from 26 November to 7 December 2012.
The Republic of Korea will host a ministerial meeting to prepare for COP
18/CMP 8. Such ministerial meetings are a tradition in the UNFCCC
negotiations and are instrumental in clarifying, at a high-level, central
issues in the weeks before a COP.
The announcement was made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban (28
November to 9 December), following agreement among the Asian Group of
countries.
"I congratulate these two countries on their commitment to work together in
the lead up to and during the COP. Both countries are leaders in their own
ways, and can generate strong synergies to put the world on a more
climate-safe path," said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres.
"All governments working together on the next essential climate steps can
be inspired by this collaborative spirit," she added.
The State of Qatar and the Republic of Korea will make joint efforts to
globally promote and implement the green growth agenda at and in the run-up
to the conference.
The Republic of Korea has championed the concept of the "green economy",
which links green growth to sustainable development and poverty
eradication, and will be a central issue under discussion at the Rio+20
summit to be held in June next year in Rio de Janeiro.
The State of Qatar, as one of the world's main energy exporters, expressed
its eagerness in Durban to secure progress in the UN climate change
negotiations, and support to the endeavours of developing countries,
including small island developing States, in adapting to the inevitable
effects of climate change.
The UNFCCC's annual Conferences of the Parties are rotated between the five
UN regional groups, with the African Group this year hosting COP 17 in
Durban, South Africa.
