Statement by Australia on behalf of the Umbrella Group

Joint Closing Plenary

Thank you Chair

I am pleased to speak on behalf of the Umbrella Group of countries.

Thank you Madam President for presiding over COP25, and thank you to the Government of Spain for your assistance to make this Blue COP possible. 

We welcome recognition of the nexus of oceans and climate change, and agreement on five year work program for the Gender Action Plan.

The review of the WIM will enhance its functions and help vulnerable people most affected by climate change impacts. 

We have had productive discussions these two weeks on the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, the Paris Committee on Capacity Building, the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform, and implementation of the technology framework.

We are also glad we were able to agree a clear message on the request for Parties to the Paris Agreement to communicate or update Nationally Determined Contributions next year, and to seek the highest possible ambition when responding to this request.

We are, however, disappointed that outcomes were not possible on important elements of our work, including Article 6 markets, mitigation issues, and transparency.

We had worked hard toward robust rules to ensure carbon markets under Article 6 delivered environmental integrity and drove climate action. It is unfortunate an outcome was not possible, but that does not detract from our collective commitment to climate action.

We look to a path forward to complete this work and to support cooperative approaches that drive emissions reductions.

We are disappointed important work on implementing the Paris Agreement transparency framework was not able to be progressed. This is a critical element of the Paris architecture.  We encourage all Parties to engage constructively to ensure this work is completed as mandated at COP26. 

We will take stock of our achievements here at COP25, and look forward to further progress at SB52 in June in Bonn and COP26 in Glasgow, where much work will need to be done as we commence operation of the Paris Agreement.

Thank you.