ENB:09:17
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LIST OF DEVELOPED COUNTRY PARTIES AND OTHER PARTIES WHICH VOLUNTARILY ASSUME THE OBLIGATIONS OF DEVELOPED COUNTRY PARTIES
For the most part, discussion of Agenda Item 4.1.7 (initially 4.1.8) occurred in the second Contact Group chaired by Mr. Mateos. This agenda item addresses Article 20 (2) of the Convention, which specifies that the first COP must establish a list of developed country Parties and other Parties which voluntarily assume the obligations of developed country Parties. No definitive list of "developed countries" exists. A number of lists are used by various organizations for different purposes. There were many suggestions and considerable discussion about the merits and disadvantages of existing lists. Delegates tried to find principles or precedents on which to base the list.
The lists evaluated by the Contact Group include those of the World Bank, UNDP and the Montreal Protocol, in addition to other suggestions such as listing the "non-recipient donors of the GEF" and including all OECD and EU countries on whatever list was developed. Initially, the UK suggested that all donors to the GEF should be used. However, this would mean that India, China, Pakistan and other developing countries that donate money to the GEF would be classified as "developed" and would, therefore, be unable to receive funds to implement the Convention. This proposal was then amended to read "non-recipient donors." However, this also had its complications as some countries, such as Iceland, would not be considered developed. Some countries had difficulty with the list being in any way related to the GEF, as the institutional structure had not yet been chosen. China suggested that an evaluation of lists used by the Convention on Climate Change and the Montreal Protocol should be undertaken. The list from the Convention on Climate Change was opposed as it has not yet been approved by the COP and is technically not an existing list. Including all OECD countries was not acceptable to Mexico, which has recently become a member of the OECD.
After all the possibilities were exhausted, delegates agreed that the Chair should develop a new list. For all the debate, there was no real controversy about which countries should be included on the list. Accordingly, the Chair listed those countries that will be defined as "developed" for the purpose of the Convention. This new list, which consists of developed, high income countries, was adopted without revision by the Working Group and is contained in document UNEP/CBD/IC/2/WG.II/L.5.