UN Hails Moroccan Presidency of COP22

Nadi (Fiji) – The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, hailed, Wednesday in Nadi (north-western Fiji) , the Moroccan “great” presidency of COP22, which took place in Marrakech in November 2016.

“The Moroccan presidency was great,” she told MAP on the sidelines of Pre-COP23 (Oct.17-18), expressing her appreciation and gratitude to the Kingdom for the “extraordinary” support given to Fiji in order to advance the climate change agenda.

Espinosa also underscored her confidence in the future of the process initiated in Paris and confirmed in Marrakech.

The Pre-COP in Nadi was “successful with the involvement of all delegations who came with an open mind and a constructive attitude,” she added, saying she was “very encouraged” even though “negotiations will be complicated in view of the nature and diversity of the issues that will be raised” in Bonn, host of the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) on Nov. 6-17.

“The Pre-COP in Fiji is an important and constructive step towards another successful COP23 after Paris and Marrakech,” she said.

Pre-COP 2017 is designed primarily as a series of closed sessions for political leaders and key advisers. It is meant to allow the leaders of member parties to frankly exchange views of key political deliverables, rather than technical details, for the upcoming COP23.