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I. DEFINITIONS

[I. First Set)

"Adverse effects of climate change" means changes in the physical environment or biota resulting from climate change, which have significant deleterious effects on the composition, resilience and productivity of natural and managed ecosystems or on the operations of socio-economic systems or on human health and welfare.

["Afforestation" means forest stands established (artificially] [on land which previously did not carry forest.]]

"Climate change" means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

"Climate system" means the totality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, including cryosphere, oceans and all seas, biosphere and geosphere and their interactions.

["Deforestation" means change of land use or depletion of crown cover to less than 10%.]

"Emissions" means the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (over a specified area and period of time.]

["Forest" means an ecological system with a minimum of 10% crown cover of trees and/or bamboos, generally associated with wild flora, fauna, and natural soil conditions, and not subject to agricultural practices.]

["Forest" means an ecological system in which biomass predominates, associated with wild flora, fauna and natural soil conditions, and not subject to seasonal cropping practices).

["Forest_degradation" means changes within the forest class which
negatively affect the stand or site and, in particular, lower the
production capacity].

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1/ "Greenhouse gases" means those gaseous constituents of the
atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and re-emit
infrared radiation, (excluding gases already controlled by other
conventions).

"Net emissions" means the difference between the amount of a greenhouse gas released to and the amount removed from the atmosphere by all sources and all sinks, respectively, as created or modified by anthropogenic activities, taken over a specified area and period of time, as calculated by agreed criteria.

["Net Emissions" means increase in the cumulative atmospheric
concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from anthropogenic
activity, depending on the size of the increase in concentration of each
greenhouse gas, the radiative property of the gas involved, the length
of time the gas is likely to remain in the atmosphere and the
concentration of greenhouse gases already present in the atmosphere,
calculated by determining their sources and mechanisms for their
eventual removal from the atmosphere (their man made and natural sinks
on a global scale)].

1/ "Precursors" means gases which react chemically in the atmosphere to
produce greenhouse gases or which affect the lifetime of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere.

[ "Reforestation" means the establishment of forest stands [artificially] on land which carried forest within the previous 50 [100] years (or within living memory and involving the replacement of the previous crop by a new and essentially different crop.]]

"Renewable energy" means energy derived from the harnessing of active natural energy flows such as solar, wind, hydrological, biomass, wave and tidal action and ocean thermal energy conversion.

"Reservoir" means a storage medium for greenhouse gases.

"Sink" means any process or activity which contributes to the removal of a greenhouse gas or the precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

("Sink" means a mechanism, natural or man-made, for the removal of
greenhouse gases and aerosols from the atmosphere).

1/ The drafting group notes that the term "greenhouse gases" is used in some places in the Convention to mean "greenhouse gases" only and at other places to mean "greenhouse gases and their precursors". From the point of view of drafting, the group recommends that the terms "greenhouse gases" and "precursors" should be defined in Article 1 as proposed above and that the Convention should use the expressions "greenhouse gases" and "greenhouse gases and their precursors" as necessary throughout the text.

Note:

1.

2.

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"Source" means any process or activity which releases [or contributes to the release of] a greenhouse gas or a precursor of a greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.

[II. Second Set]

"Regional economic integration organisation" means an organization constituted by sovereign States of a given region which has competence in respect of matters governed by this Convention or its protocols and has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the instruments concerned.]

Two additional items were introduced in Working Group II for inclusion in the list of definitions: "aerosols" and "clearing house".

IPCC will be asked to comment on the list of proposed definitions before the next session.

1.

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[II. PRINCIPLES

The right to development is an inalienable human right. All peoples have an equal right in matters relating to reasonable living standards. Economic development is the prerequisite for adopting measures to address climate change. The net emissions of developing countries must grow to meet their social and economic development needs.

2.

All States have a duty to aim at sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations. Protection of the global climate against human induced change should proceed in an integrated manner with economic development in the light of the specific conditions of each country, [[without prejudice to the socio-economic development of developing countries]. Measures to guard against man-made climate change should be integrated into all relevant national development programmes (taking into account that [evolving] environmental standards] valid for developed countries may have inappropriate and unwarranted social and economic costs in particular in developing countries (and countries with economies in transition]].

(3. All States have an obligation to protect the [global] climate system for the benefit of present and future generation of humankind on the basis of [intergenerational as well as intragenerational] equity, and in accordance with [their]/[developed and developing countries] common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities (with a view to achieving convergence at a common per capita level] and taking fully into account that the largest part of emissions of greenhouse gases has been originating from developed countries (and those countries have the main responsibility] (and should take the lead] in combating climate change and the adverse consequences thereof.]

[4. The Parties shall give full consideration to the specific needs and special circumstances of developing country Parties, especially those developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse consequences of climate change and also those developing countries which would have to bear a disproportionate or abnormal burden under the Convention.]

5.

[Recognizing the need for] Parties to (the Convention shall] take (costeffective) precautionary measures to anticipate [, prevent, attack] or minimize the causes of, and mitigate the adverse consequences of, climate change. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage,] lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing such

measures.

6. States all promote an open and balanced multilateral trading system. Except on the basis of a decision by the Conference of the Parties which should be consistent with the GATT, no country or group of countries shall introduce barriers to trade on the basis of claims related to climate change.

7. Measures taken to combat climate change should not introduce trade distortions inconsistent with the GATT or hinder the promotion of an open and multilateral trading system.

[8. Those [developed] countries (identified as] [[directly] responsible for causing damage to the environment through inducing climate change]/[which are

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mainly responsible for emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere]
should bear the responsibility for rectifying that damage [. [By openly
"demonstrating their direct responsibility or negligence, those

countries]/[and] shall compensate for environmental damage suffered by other countries or individuals in other countries].]

[9. Climate policies should be cost-effective to ensure global benefits at lowest possible costs. To achieve this, climate policies should be comprehensive, include all relevant sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, comprise all economic sectors, [include both limitation and adaptation measures] and may be implemented in cooperation with other Parties.]

10. In all fields related to the protection of the climate system, the Parties shall respect and act in accordance with the principle of sovereignty of States, which is applicable in any area of international cooperation.

11. The need to improve the international economic environment for the developing countries and to promote their sustained economic development are prerequisites for enabling developing countries to participate effectively in the international efforts to protect the global environment including climate

protection.]

[III. OBJECTIVE

The ultimate objective of the Convention and any related legal instruments that might be agreed upon is to achieve, in accordance with the Principles set out in the above Articles, stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with climate. Such a level should be reached within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to permit economic activity to develop in a sustainable and environmentally sound

manner.

[The anthropogenic emissions of [all] greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, from States should converge at a common per capita level, taking into account net (carbon]/[greenhouse gas component] emissions during this century as well as the development needs of developing countries.]]

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