SBI Agenda Item 1 - Opening of the session

Draft Umbrella Group statement

Mr Chair

Australia, on behalf of the Umbrella Group of countries – Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the United States– looks forward to working together with you to advance the SBI’s work at this and future sessions.

There are a number of items to progress here.  It will be important to agree on arrangements for COP13/ MOP 3 and the budget for the next biennium.  The Umbrella Group looks forward to constructive discussion on progress on the implementation of decision 1/CP.10 and we will also be working hard to reach a resolution on outstanding matters concerning the Adaptation Fund.

Along side the regular SBI agenda, this session will also see a useful and varied mix of workshops, roundtables and briefings.  In particular, we look forward to the third sessions of the Dialogue and the AWG.  The Dialogue’s themes of technology and adaptation are relevant to us all and deserve close examination. Much work lies ahead for the AWG and we need to make the most of this session to make inroads into what we need to do, including on starting the vital task of scooping mitigation potential.

Mr Chair, the Umbrella Group also hopes there will be broad participation and positive engagement in the workshop on the Russian proposal.  We urge Parties to come ready to substantively discuss how to move forward with this initiative.

And lastly, Mr Chair, the Umbrella Group promises to you that we will be disciplined in our approach to the work of the session through keeping our interventions brief and adhering to the 6pm finishing time.