3 February 2010: Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), highlighted that upcoming meetings in the first half of 2010, such as the OECD-International Energy Agency (IEA) Annex I Expert Group meetings in February and April, as well as a workshop on new issues in carbon markets, provide opportunities to make progress in climate change negotiations leading to the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, scheduled to take place in November-December 2010, in Cancun, Mexico.

Speaking at a workshop on climate change, held in Paris, France, and organized by the EU and the Spanish EU Presidency, Gurría also noted that the Copenhagen Accord, though far from perfect, represents progress on three key issues. Firstly, on greenhouse gas mitigation, he stressed that the targets and actions countries are listing in the Accord represent, for the first time, an internationalization of actions by both developed and developing countries. He noted, however, that more ambitious targets than current commitments will be needed to limit the raise in temperature to 2°C. Secondly, on financing climate change, Copenhagen has delivered both initial fast-start finance of US$30 billion for 2010-2012 and a longer-term perspective with advanced countries aiming at mobilizing US$100 billion per year by 2020, including from public and private sources. Thirdly, the agreement includes general principles for the measurement, reporting and verification of targets, actions and finance – an essential element to ensure transparency and accountability amongst countries. [OECD Press Release]