Following a year of ambitious and determined action from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the group calls on the delegates of the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP20) to make significant progress in Lima in advancing the elements of the new climate Agreement’s text.

 The Chair of the LDC Group, Ram Prasad Lamsal of Nepal said: “In recent months, we have seen LDCs make ambitious climate pledges in New York,1 the EU’s 2030 agreement to reduce emissions by at least 40% in Bonn,2 the bilateral agreement between the US and China on mitigation targets at the G20 summit in Brisbane and a series of encouraging finance pledges to the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Now, with just 30 negotiation days left until Paris 2015, we urge Parties to seize the opportunity in Lima to pave the way for the Paris Agreement and ratify the second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol.

 Lamsal added, “The findings of the recent reports of the IPCC called for the world to move towards an ambitious approach to tackle the threats posed by climate change. Parties must deliver prompt action.”

 Dr. Krishna C. Paudel, Secretary, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Nepal, further stated: “The LDC Group always tries to play a constructive role in the negotiations. We must ensure that the global response addresses needs and concerns of LDCs, which are the hardest hit by adverse effects of climate change.”

 “We believe that the Agreement is an opportunity to foster a real, action-oriented global response, which could put the world on a path towards a climate resilient sustainable future. It must therefore focus on the delivery and implementation of current and future commitments,” Dr. Paudel added.

 According to IIED, LDC Group Media Release issued from United Nations Climate Change Conference 2014, Lima, Peru, the LDC Group is determined and focused to advance the discussions on the Paris Agreement, and reiterates that the focus it brought to the Bonn climate negotiations in October,4 saying that parties must scale up ambition towards making deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions both now and in the long-term, to hold global average temperature increase below 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels by 2100. They argue that LDCs cannot afford to bear the costs of inaction or delayed action as climate impacts worsen day by day.

Dr. Ian Fry, Ambassador for Climate Change and Environment from Tuvalu, explained: “Current aggregate mitigation targets for the pre-2020 period are currently not consistent with the 1.5oC pathway. With still another five-years before the Paris 2015 Agreement enters into force, progress on dramatically reducing emissions before 2020 will significantly influence the mitigation commitments under the new Agreement.”

 However, the Group is concerned that negotiations of the 2015 Agreement are moving too slowly. Dr. Paudel added: “We believe the structure of the 2015 Agreement must be a protocol with clear short, medium- and long-term goals and targets, and robust compliance mechanisms to enforce commitments.  Such a protocol could provide a stronger, unifying framework – legally, politically, institutionally and administratively – with mechanisms that facilitate countries to commit to stronger climate action.”