The talks in Bangkok thus marked the beginning of a new negotiating phase, drawing delegates from 162 countries tasked with fleshing out the Bali Road Map. This involved drawing up a work programme to craft a future international climate pact that will successfully halt the increase in global emissions within the next 10-15 years and dramatically reduce emissions by mid-century. The two-stranded talks also involved taking forward important work under the Kyoto Protocol process. more

Statement by the Executive Secretary at the opening of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks 2008

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Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG), Closing Plenary

Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWGLCA), Closing Plenary

Participants discussing while waiting for plenary to begin

The Bangkok Climate Change Talks are over

Press Service

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer addressing the press on the final day of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks
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In his statement to the press at the end of the week-long Climate Change Talks in Bangkok, Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, announced that a timetable had been agreed for the negotiating process leading up to a long-term international climate change agreeement to be concluded in Copenhagen in two years time. "The train to Copenhagen has left the station," he said.

Mr. de Boer said that the two-year work programme broke up the huge task of reaching this agreement into "bite-sized, manageable chunks of work."

He explained that Parties would consider the themes adaptation, mitigation, techonology , finance and a shared vision for long-term cooperative action in conjunction with each other at every session to make progress, and expressed his satisfaction that the critical issues were being discussed at an early stage.

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UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer addressing the press on the first day of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks
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At the opening press conference in Bangkok, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Yvo de Boer, explained the work of the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention, and the Working Group on further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol:

"What both these processes are primarily about is setting goals going into the future."

He said that this involved "defining the level of ambition that industrialized countries can achieve by taking on emission reduction commitments,"as well as "examining to what extent developing countries can take real, measurable and verifiable action to combat climate change, providing that real, measurable and verifiable money is on the table." It also meant focusing on what adaptation measures need to be taken in the future, he said.

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More information

Information note

In session workshop on means to reach emission reduction targets, 1 - 3 April

In-session workshop

Detailed schedule of the in-session workshop on means to reach emission reduction targets, 1-3 April

Summary Report of the workshop

Summary Report

Submissions from observers

Submissions from intergovernmental and accredited non-governmental organizations

Provisional schedule for the Bangkok Climate Change Talks 2008

Monday 31 March

Tuesday 1 April

Wednesday 2 April

Thursday 3 April

Friday 4 April

Morning

Welcoming ceremony and AWG opening plenary

AWG in-session workshop

AWGLCA informal plenary

AWG in-session workshop

AWGLCA informal plenary

AWG in-session workshop

AWGLCA informal plenary

informal drafting group

informal drafting group

Afternoon

AWGLCA opening plenary

AWG in-session Workshop

AWG in-session workshop

AWGLCA informal plenary

informal groups

informal groups

AWG and AWGLCA closing plenaries