WRI President Jonathan Lash’s Statement on Progress at the Major Economies Forum

The first meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate wrapped up here yesterday. The forum, convened by U.S. President Barack Obama, was attended by representatives of 17 major economies, the United Nations, and several developing countries.

Participants agreed that the Forum can be a quality contribution to helping the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change inform and complement a successful outcome this December at the UN international-climate negotiations in Copenhagen.

Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, said, “The reformulated Major Economies Forum took an important first step. Rather than echoing decades-old positions, countries talked openly and constructively on how to make a global agreement on climate change work. First steps were taken toward common ground on technology and mitigation.”

The next Forum meetings will take place in France in May and Italy in July. Issues to discuss will include mitigation, adaptation, finance, and technology.

Lash added, “The agenda for subsequent MEF meetings, culminating in the July summit of presidents and prime ministers, is critical. These must produce substantive outcomes on the key issues of greenhouse gas emission-reduction targets, technology, adaptation and finance, and on means of reporting and verifying countries’ actions, and these outcomes must be fed directly into the UN climate negotiating process.

“The United States embraced a leadership role at the MEF, and its position on these issues will be watched carefully over the next several months.”