Attiyah attends Bangkok conference

HE Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who is also the President of the Climate Change Conference (COP-18), participated in a meeting of the executive office of Bangkok Climate Change Conference ahead of COP-18 at the UN Conference Centre (UNCC) in Thailand. Al-Attiyah welcomed the open-ended informal consultations on the “Parties” and the observers’ expectations about the 18th Climate Change Conference, and said as a new president of the conference, he worked along with the heads and the secretariat of the conference to ensure its success. He expressed pleasure at this opportunity which will allow him to hear what the “Parties” would say. The 18th conference on climate change is an important moment in this process, Al-Attiyah said, adding that the decisions taken in Doha will pave the way for future proceedings on how the “Parties” will gather their efforts to confront and address the climate change. He said what is required from the conference is to make a sufficient and parallel progress through the Kyoto Protocol, Bali Action Plan and Durban platform, adding that one of the main results of the 18th Doha Conference will be the agreement on the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol. He said important political choices must be made, calling for flexibility and moderation.Al-Attiyah reminded the participants that the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol will start in January 2013, exactly 24 days after the end of the Doha Conference, so it should be taking into account the limitations of the timing of the launch of the second commitment period. He briefed the participants on some major debates of the ministerial meeting of Petersburg Climate Change Conference, which was held in Berlin from July 15 to 17 this year.The participants at the conference called for a successful close of the long-term co-operative action on the decisions taken in Cancun. Al-Attiyah made clear that the time has come to lay a strong foundation for the Doha Conference and hoped steps will be taken to achieve these expectations. He thanked the “Parties” and observers for their constructive opinions and said that their commitments are important to continue progress.He stressed that Doha is determined to mark the next conference with openness, transparency and inclusiveness among States. The meeting was attended by Qatar’s Ambassador to Thailand Jabor bin Ali al-Dosari, Qatar’s Ambassador to Korea Ali bin Hamad al-Marri and the delegation accompanying al-Attiyah.