“Progress has been made at the meeting in Bangkok, but more must follow if we are to reach an agreement in Copenhagen,” says Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren.

“I welcome the positive steps that have been taken at the senior officials’ negotiations in Bangkok. All issues are now on the table and the negotiations have moved ahead in a number of areas relating to capacity-building for adjustments to climate change and technological cooperation. This is progress compared to the previous senior officials’ negotiations in Bonn at the beginning of the autumn.”

“However, the pace at which the negotiations are proceeding is still inadequate. We need to raise our level of ambition and make progress ahead of the concluding round of negotiations in Barcelona in November. The EU is still too alone in placing concrete offers on the table.” 

“The Barcelona negotiations need additional political energy from the high-level meetings held within the Major Economies Forum, the Greenland Dialogue and the preliminary meeting ahead of the Copenhagen meeting. The coming EU Council meetings should also be used to strengthen the negotiating position.

At the Bangkok meeting, considerable focus has centred on the issue of how the agreement in Copenhagen is to be viewed in relation to the Kyoto Protocol.

“It is now important that countries around the world move ahead to reach an agreement on the content of an ambitious, global agreement in Copenhagen. The agreement must build on the important principles of the Kyoto Protocol and involve all parties to the Climate Convention. The Kyoto Protocol must find a new home in a detailed agreement that covers all countries and ensures that we meet the challenge of climate change.”