COP 13: Intervention by the United States Delegation -- National Communications from Parties Not Included in Annex I (Agenda Item 4)

Meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
National Communications from Parties Not Included in Annex I (Agenda Item 4)

As delivered.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

The national communications of all Parties are a critical component of our efforts to address climate change, and they should be guided by our commitment to achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention.

The United States remains firmly committed to helping ensure that non-Annex I Parties have the full capacity to prepare high-quality national inventories of greenhouse gases and national communications.

And we are pleased to announce here that, as one part of our efforts, we are providing new funding in the amount of $100,000 to those ends via the UNFCCC Trust for Supplementary Activities.

Mr. Chairman, what we are dealing with here are the fundamental building blocks of efforts under the Convention.

It will be impossible to assess our collective progress in achieving this objective if all major economies and greenhouse emitters do not regularly submit greenhouse gas inventories or report on the steps they are taking to address other important elements of Article 4, paragraph 1.

Significant change has taken place since the Convention was agreed upon in 1992. First, a number of non-Annex 1 Parties are now among the largest economies and largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. Second, the capacity of most non-Annex 1 Parties to produce high quality national communications has increased substantially in the past fifteen years. Third, significant funds, training and other forms of technical support have been and continue to be provided for this purpose.

The United States therefore believes that non-Annex I Parties, excepting least developed country Parties, should:

• Submit an inventory of greenhouse gases every two years and update emissions from the energy sector annually; and,
  
• Submit national communications every four years.

The United States also supports individual examinations of national communications and the information contained therein. The CGE can provide important support in both these efforts.

Finally, we'd like to commend the CGE for completing an impressive body of work beginning in 2003. It has contributed significantly to strengthening the capacity of non-Annex I Parties to submit national communications of quality. We look forward to working with other Parties in discussing a future role for the CGE.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.