LMDC concerned over slow pace of negotiations before Paris conference

The Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) on climate change on Tuesday expressed concern over the slow pace of negotiations ahead of the Paris conference.

"They (LMDC) were deeply concerned with the slow pace of negotiations given the limited negotiating time left before CoP-21/CMP11 in Paris," said a statement issued after the conclusion of the two-day LMDC meeting here.

The 21st session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (CoP-21/CMP11) will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, and needs to achieve a new international agreement on climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2 degree Celsius.

Negotiators from 13 nations - Argentina, Bolivia, China, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Malaysia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and India - participated in the meeting of LMDC to take stock of the climate change negotiations and provide a perspective on the way forward for the Paris agreement.

Addressing the concluding session, Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said: "Paris (conference) can be a success, if nations do not indulge in a blame-game."

During the meet, it was agreed that the Paris agreement should not be mitigation-centric, but must address in a balanced and comprehensive manner the elements identified in the Durban mandate - mitigation, adaptation, finance, capacity-building, technology development and transfer, transparency of action and support, as well as loss and damage in a balanced manner, the statement said.

The Paris agreement should also ensure the provision of adequate support by the developed to the developing nations to meet their needs and costs of adaptation actions, responding to loss and damage associated with adverse effects of the climate change.

The participating countries also called on the developed nations to provide a roadmap to fulfill their commitment of $100 billion per year for climate finance by 2020.