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SUMMARY OF THE ELEVENTH SESSION OF THE INC FOR A FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE:: 6-17 FEBRUARY 1995

The eleventh session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC/FCCC) met from 6-17 February 1995 at UN Headquarters in New York. This final meeting of the INC was supposed to complete the preparations for the first Conference of the Parties in Berlin from 28 March - 7 April 1995.

During the two-week session, delegates addressed a wide range of issues including arrangements for the first session of the Conference of Parties (COP), location of the Permanent Secretariat, Rules of Procedure for the COP, matters relating to commitments, matters relating to arrangements for the financial mechanism, and provision of technical and financial support to developing country Parties. While delegates did agree to maintain the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as the interim entity operating the financial mechanism and to finance mitigation activities, little concrete progress was made on other important issues before the Committee. Delegates were unable to take action on the adequacy of commitments or to begin negotiations on a draft protocol submitted by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). There was no progress on joint implementation (JI). Delegates had little time to address technical and financial support to developing countries. The location of the Permanent Secretariat remains pending, although the four countries offering to host the Secretariat (Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Uruguay) have been asked to negotiate among themselves so that a single nomination is presented to the COP in Berlin. Finally, delegates were unable to reach agreement on the Rules of Procedure, a problem that will haunt the Parties at COP-1, who may find their substantive work hampered by the lack of agreement on voting procedures and the allocation of seats on the COP Bureau.