Closing Statement at the Conference of the PartiesDr. Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs and Head of United States DelegationThirteenth Session of the Conference Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Bali, Indonesia December 15, 2007 The United States would like to commend you and our colleagues for the work that you have done in developing the Bali Roadmap to guide our work under the Conference of the Parties up to 2009. We came into this meeting to achieve a roadmap that will over the coming two years lead to agreement on a global approach to climate change that is environmentally effective and economically sustainable. The global community has worked together to put into place a good set of elements in the Bali Roadmap on mitigation, adaptation, technology, and finance to guide important considerations toward agreement in 2009 in Copenhagen. It is important that our work be guided by the latest science laid out in the IPCC 4th assessment report. We have taken a first step in Bali in beginning an important discussion about how to achieve a truly global solution. This is a new chapter in climate diplomacy. We are committed to working hard over the next two years to ensure that we implement today’s decision in a way that achieves this end. That effort begins today. Again, my thanks to you and all delegates, as well as the Secretariat and stakeholders for our work over these two weeks. Released on December 27, 2007 |