AS negotiators at the ongoing 17th Conference of Party (COP17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reached the end of a grueling first week of talks at the weekend, the United States, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has stated that its priority at COP 17 is the operationalisation of the agreements reached at Cancun, Mexico in 2010.The agreements, reached on December 11 in Cancun, represent key steps forward in capturing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to help developing nations protect themselves from climate impacts and build their own 'sustainable futures.'In a press briefing at the weekend, US Deputy Envoy for Climate Change, and head of delegation for the first week of the talks, Dr. Jonathan Pershing said the US is focusing on operationalising each of the key elements countries agreed to in Cancun, including technology, adaptation, finance, and transparency.'If successful, we will have made a substantial step forward in the global effort to address climate change,' he said.Pershing praised the Cancun agreements for being 'global,' noting that the world came together and agreed on a major step forward in tackling the problem of climate change.'The targets and actions affirmed in Cancun cover all major economies representing more than 80 per cent of global greenhouse gases. Pledges made in Cancun will yield significant reductions in emissions and address the impacts of the climate change we cannot avoid.'However, with civil society groups at the COP expressing frustration over the slow pace of progress on negotiations that would formally give birth to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Dr. Pershing said the US still has concerns about it in a number of areas, which is why it is opposed to its submission of the report on it for now. The GCF is a fund to help poor countries green their economies and adapt to climate change. It is expected to provide funding targets of up $100 billion dollars per year, and was agreed to at COP 16 in Cancun.According to Pershing: 'Some wanted (the report on GCF) to go forward with amendments' we fit into that category, many fit into that category, we are not alone. And there are multiple parts to it, it's got a technical document, an annex, and it's got a covering decision that we have to adopt. So, quite a lot of work still to be done on that front.''The kinds of concerns that we have fall into three different baskets. One is a basket of inconsistencies in the report, and we think those should be fixed. The second is a basket in which there's a question about the relationship between this new board and the fund and the Conference of the Parties.'And we think that should be properly addressed so that there is an independent process. And the third has to do with what are the arrangements during the period before we have a permanent home for the board and the Fund. In all of those areas, there are decisions to be taken. We think those need to be taken the right way in order for us to move this forward. That's a negotiation that we're in the midst of and we certainly have high hopes that we'll conclude that here in Durban,' he said.
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