UNITED NATIONS, 24 May 2007: Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries should start acting to shape the post-2012 regime on climate change, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has said.

“As the countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, LDCs and small islands need to raise their concerns on what should be the focus ahead of negotiations for a new regime,” Mr. Yvo de Boer told a meeting at the United Nations on the challenges of climate change for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the chief global instrument for tackling climate change. It entered into force in February 2005. It contains commitments by countries to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming. The current commitments will expire in 2012, necessitating the negotiation of new commitments.

Mr. Yvo de Boer also called upon the LDCs and SIDS that have not yet done so to prepare and integrate into their development strategies National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) in order to deal more effectively with the challenges of climate change.

The Chairperson for the Least Developed Countries and Permanent Representative of Benin to the United Nations, Mr. Jean-Marie Ehouzou, noted that as of today, 44 NAPA proposals had been approved for funding by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), 15 of which has been completed and submitted to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“It is our hope that the international community will continue to support LDCs in developing enabling activities for vulnerability and adaptation assessment and enhancing their capacity, including institutional capacity, to integrate the adaptation into sustainable development programmes,” he said.

The Acting Chairperson of the Alliance of Small Island States (OASIS) and Permanent Representative of the Solomon Islands to the United Nations, Mr. Collin D. Beck, said that with the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol in February 2005, the challenge was implementation, including committing the resources need to address climate change.

“The cost of inaction will be dire, especially for the most vulnerable countries,” he said.

The meeting was co-organised by the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in collaboration with the Unit for Small Island Developing States of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

For further information, please contact: Fred Kirungi, Advocacy and Outreach Officer, United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. Tel: (917) 367-3431. Email: kirungi@un.org. Website: http://www.un.org/ohrlls/