Introduction
The focus of Thursday's high-level ministerial discussions
turned to the Durban Platform and sought to capitalise on the
common ground that was established yesterday in the AWG-DP.
As before, the array of contact groups, informal consultations
and meetings under the COP, CMP and AWG-DP workstreams continued
throughout the day, culminating in the COP/CMP President convening
another informal stocktaking plenary session in the evening.
High-Level Ministerial Dialogue
The limited progress that was made yesterday appeared to be
short-lived. Todd Stern, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change,
again declared what he believed to be areas of convergence, before
clashing once more with China – and on this occasion,
Venezuela – by reiterating his intention to see the evolution
of the categorisation of countries as Annex I or non-Annex I.
Argentina did not enter this debate, but noted that the principles
of equity and common but differentiated
