Climate Change and Development Linkages

On August 27, an informal working lunch was co-hosted by the South Centre and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva (and the President for the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP 13) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD).

The meeting sought to promote the inclusion and reflection of developing countries’ development concerns in climate change negotiations and the mainstreaming of climate change concerns into sustainable development strategies. There was a convergence among the international community that in Bali there should be an "agreement" about the basic elements, principles, areas of concern, common areas, and resources needed for the materialization of an effective post Kyoto regime.

The participants agreed that the development dimension has been put aside in the climate change context. For instance while the Annex I countries discuss the aspect of mitigation, the real concerns of developing countries are adaptation, technology transfer, additional resources, and capacity building. There is a need to address this issue in the negotiation processes, including those beyond the UNFCCC itself.