May 20th, 2009: Central text to be negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , which will form the basis of an ambitious and effective international response to climate change, to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, has been released by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). "This document marks an important point on our road," said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer. "It's the first time real negotiating text will be on the table which can serve as a basis for governments to start drafting a Copenhagen agreed outcome," he added.

The 53-page text covers the issues of a shared vision for long-term cooperative action, along with enhanced action on adaptation, mitigation and finance, technology and capacitybuilding. The UN's top climate change official pointed to "encouraging developments" in the area of climate change negotiations over the past 100 days. "Within the talks, we have an almost complete list of industrialised nations' pledges to cut emissions after 2012, so governments can see now more clearly where they are in comparison to each other, and can build a higher ambition on that basis," Yvo de Boer said.

"Meanwhile, the US has committed to a Copenhagen agreement and a clean energy future. Industrialised countries are giving developing nations due credit for the climate change strategies they already have in place," he added. "The Major Economies Forum began with a firm commitment to contribute positively to a Copenhagen agreement and, in response to the financial crisis, many national stimulus packages have been launched that include green economic objectives. With only 200 days before Copenhagen, time gets tighter but the world is not standing still on climate change."