Special Report: Fight against Global Warming

    By Zhao Jinchuan     

    BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- With thousands of government officials, NGO representatives and journalists arriving in the resort island of Bali, Indonesia said it is ready for the 12-day UN climate change conference which starts Monday and was confident it will be successful.

    Many delegates and journalists are waiting in long queues Sunday to register themselves in the registration hall in the Bali International Convention Center, where the meeting will be held under tight security.

Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, speaks during a briefing on media arrangements in Nusa Dua, Bali island Dec. 2, 2007. Delegates from about 190 nations gathered in Bali on Sunday to try to build on a "fragile understanding" that the fight against global warming needs to be expanded to all nations with a deal in 2009(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Officials of the organizing committee said more than 10,000 people from some 180 countries have confirmed their attendance at the conference, including 130 environment ministers and five heads of state and government, plus Australian Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd and U.S. former Vice President and 2007 Nobel Prize co-winner, Al Gore.

    Earlier, Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said, "We are ready for the big event. Pak President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) will be there on Monday (Dec. 3) to make sure everything is in place for the conference."

    Head of Indonesia's organizing committee Agus Purnomo confirmed that security, logistical, accommodation and transportation arrangements for the event were in place.

    Dino said, "looking at what we achieved in the Bogor preparatory meeting last month, we are optimistic we will strike a consensus on the Bali road map during the conference".

    The conference reportedly would cost some 140 billion rupiah (about 16 million U.S. dollars).

    Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said if only the Bali conference can come up with an agreeable road map that includes clear procedures and mechanisms to achieve a post-Kyodo treaty in 2009, "we can consider the conference a success."

    "We also will try to make sure that the Bali meeting is inclusive. For instance, the Kyodo Protocol established ad hoc working groups to discuss all matters relating to the implementation of the protocol," he added.

    "We hope that we can have an agreement on these matters during the Bali conference," said the minister.

    Indonesia and the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are set to jointly host the 13th Session of Conference of Parties (COP13) on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the third Session of Conference of Parties serving as a meeting of parties to Kyoto Protocol.

    On Monday, outgoing COP12 President David Mwiraria of Kenya is scheduled to officially open the meeting.

    The conference would then be presided over by Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar, with support from the UNFCCC, headed by executive secretary Yvo de Boer.

    The first week will be allocated for negotiations among the Kyoto Protocol parties including high-ranking government officials on a wide range of issues, followed by talks involving 130 environment ministers.

    Addresses from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Indonesian President Yudhoyono are set to kick off the high-level negotiations.

    Delegates are expected to create a road map on the mechanisms and procedures for negotiations to establish a new commitment to the Kyoto agreement, which is set to expire in 2012.

    The conference is also set to discuss four core issues, including ways to reach a consensus on climate adaptation, mitigation to curb sources of emissions of greenhouse gasses, the transfer of technology from developed countries to developing ones, and a financing scheme to curb the impacts of climate change.

    The UNFCCC said in a statement that the Bali Conference will not deliver a fully negotiated and agreed climate deal, but is aimed to set the necessary wheels in motion".

    During the meeting, participants are expected to negotiate the launch of a collective fund for adaptation, ways to reduce emissions from deforestation and burning, issues pertaining to the carbon market, and to arrange for a review of the Kyoto Protocol.

    However, with many differences between the developed and developing countries on climate issues, observers here have predicted negotiations at the meeting will be tough.