27 August 2008: The third session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term
Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the first part of the
sixth session of the Ad Hoc Working
Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol to
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place from 21-27
August 2008, in Accra, Ghana.

These meetings are part of ongoing discussions to
enhance international cooperation on climate change, including for the period
after 2012, which are scheduled to conclude in Copenhagen at the UN Climate
Change Conference in December 2009. The event brought together some 1,600
participants, including government delegates from 160 countries and
representatives from environmental organizations, business and industry and
research institutions. Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, stated on the
last day of the meeting that important progress had been made on key issues
relating to a new international agreement to tackle global warming.
He noted
that the process had “speeded up” and that governments were becoming “very
serious about negotiating a result in Copenhagen.” He highlighted the mandate
given by governments to the AWG-LCA Chair to compile proposals made so far and
to be made in the coming weeks. He said the Accra meeting had set the basis for
“real negotiations to begin in Poznan,” the Polish city where the UN Climate
Conference will be held this December. He also mentioned encouraging debates
on: deforestation and forest conservation; improvement of the Kyoto Protocol’s
Clean Development Mechanism; and sectoral approaches. [UN
press release, 27 August 2008] [IISDRS
Coverage]