Ministerial meeting in Switzerland prepares for world climate conference
Bern, 11.05.2006 - Switzerland will host more than 30 environment ministers September 14-15 in Rüschlikon (Zurich) in preparation for the world conference on the climate which is due to be held in November 2006 in Nairobi. Making the announcement today in Bern the President of the Swiss Confederation Moritz Leuenberger and the Kenyan Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources Kivutha Kibwana, said that the aim of Switzerland and Kenya in organizing these ministerial consultations is to contribute to the success of the Nairobi conference.
According to the President of the Confederation, Switzerland has an obligation to contribute to the success of the Nairobi conference on the climate. Climate policy is the joint responsibility of all states and needs the support of all. Furthermore it is in Switzerland’s own interest to participate in the international community’s efforts to combat climate change, fulfilling commitments underwritten in the Kyoto Protocol. As an alpine country Switzerland is more vulnerable than most to the impacts of climate change and therefore has more to gain from international greenhouse gas emission reductions.
By organizing this meeting Switzerland is also helping to support Kenya in the fulfillment of its duties as president of the Nairobi world conference on the climate. It thus meets one of its obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNPCCC), which calls on the industrialized nations to support the efforts of the developing countries to implement the agreement.
Kenya is committed to the UNPCCC Convention and the Kyoto Protocol said Mr. Kibwana. It is in this regard that Kenya, as other developing countries, looks forward to clean technologies as a vehicle to sustainable development. Of course stabilization and reduction of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will restore the stratospheric ozone layer. It is the hope of Kenya that the meeting in Nairobi will take place in an atmosphere of openness and increase consensus in order to deepen political will. Kenya welcomes the support from the Swiss Confederation, UNEP and many other partners that will come on board before Nairobi Conference.
Establishing common positions prior to the conference
During the two days of the meeting in Rüschlikon, the 30-odd environment ministers will try to agree on common positions so that it will be easier to reach decisions at the climate conference in Nairobi. Among the most important matters for discussion are : efforts to reduce greenhouse gases in the context of the existing Kyoto Protocol, and the continuation of these efforts after 2012. Also on the agenda will be continuation of the dialogue launched last year in Montreal to ensure that all countries participate in efforts to reduce emissions as well as in measures to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Address for enquiries
André Simonazzi, Head of Information of the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC),
tel. 031 322 55 11
Thomas Kolly, Head of the International Affairs division, Federal office for the Environment FOEN, tel. 079 828 48 45
Publisher
Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/en/home.html
