UN Negotiations Begin in Bonn on Sunday; Todd Stern Keynotes

On Sunday, March 29, representatives will gather in Bonn, Germany for the first of a series of UN intercessionals leading up to the next Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009.  This will be the Obama administrations first UN negotiation session. Todd Stern, U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change will come for the first day to give an opening statement, after which Jonathan Pershing, Deputy Envoy, will represent the US administration during the negotiations.  Last week, the Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) released two background documents for the negotiations-Part I, an explanatory introduction and overview, and Part II, which details the proposals under consideration. Concurrent with the Bonn intercessional, President Obama will be in Europe to participate in the G-20 summit, a NATO summit and an informal EU-US summit. Visit the UNFCCC Bonn intercessional website

For more background on Bonn, listen to a recording of the USCAN press briefing held March 24, 2009.