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Sixth Meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Held in Washington, DC

19 Apr. 2010             Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Japan

Informed by the outcome of the COP 15 held last December, the sixth Meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, MEF, met in Washington, DC, April 18 and 19, 2010. Ensuring the positive outcome of the next COP 16, Japan, U.S., China, Russia, India, Germany, Canada, UK, Italy, Korea, France, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, and EU (Spain, current chair, and EC), and the United Nations participated the meeting. Denmark (chair for the Fifteenth Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP15), Columbia, Grenada, and Yemen participated as an observer.

Summary
　Key points of the meeting are summarized as follows:

1. There was a discussion of what the outcome should be and the key issues that need to be addressed to have a successful outcome in COP 16. The discussion was held in a friendly manner.
2. Participants generally felt that “Copenhagen Accord” represented an important step forward and that it provided important political consensus that should be reflected in the negotiations leading up to COP 16.
3. Participants discussed goals for COP16 and beyond. There was a discussion of the role of the Kyoto Protocol and the form of a legal outcome, noting that in COP 16 countries should at a minimum agree on a balanced set of decisions informed by the Copenhagen Accord.
4. Participants discussed what work needs to be done in the year ahead, noting the importance of the need to elaborate the measurement, reporting, and verification and other transparency provisions of the Copenhagen Accord. Various participants also spoke to equity, the role of markets, domestic actions already underway to implement mitigation commitments under the Accord, and actions to reduce deforestation. MEF participants supported the Mexican Presidency’s efforts to prepare COP16.
5. Many countries noted the importance of moving forward promptly with the Copenhagen Accord’s short term financing. Several countries presented information on the actions they were already undertaking in response to their short term financing commitment under the Copenhagen Accord. There was a favorable reaction from developing countries.
6. Informed by the Copenhagen Accord, Japanese government proactively joined the discussion to ensure the realization of the fair and effective framework participated by all major countries. The government is in a position where it makes an effort to realize an adoption of a new, comprehensive, legal form of document.

Regarding the Copenhagen Accord’s short term financing, Japanese government presented the information of the status of domestic action and discussion of the HATOYAMA initiative, the idea of taking an action that can be taken first, as well as the information on the Bill of the Basic Act on Global Warming Countermeasures.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sixth Meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Held in Washington, DC

19 Apr. 2010 Japanese Government Delegation http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/kankyo/kiko/mef_1004.html
(Japanese-only)