1. In order to finalize the rulebook for implementing the Paris Agreement by the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December this year, an additional negotiating session will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from August 31 to September 9.

※ At the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22, November 2016) held after the Paris Agreement entered into force (November 4, 2016), the Parties decided to develop the rulebook for implementing the Paris Agreement by 2018.

o A delegation of the Republic of Korea to the meeting will be led by Ambassador for Climate Change Yoo Yeon-chul, and composed of officials from relevant government agencies and experts*.

* Officials from seven government agencies -- the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Justice, and the Korea Forest Service -- and experts from research institutes

※ The meeting will consist of the 6th part of the 1st session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA 1-6), the 2nd part of the 48th session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 48.2), and the 2nd part of the 48th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 48.2).

※ Prior to the additional negotiating session, pre-sessional meetings and an APA round table will take place.

2. The additional negotiating session will be the last official negotiating session before the COP24 in December this year. In the session, the Parties are expected to focus their discussions on technical issues to make progress in negotiations.

o They will discuss how to devise specific guidelines for implementing the Paris Agreement after 2020, including on mitigation, market, adaptation, technology development and transfer, finance, transparency, the global stocktake, and the implementation and compliance mechanism.

3. The delegation of the ROK government will work to make constructive contributions to the international community’s efforts to develop the rulebook for the Paris Agreement in cooperation with major negotiation groups, including the Environment Integrity Group (EIG)*, and other countries.

* The Environment Integrity Group is a climate change negotiation group consisting of six countries -- ROK, Switzerland, Mexico, Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Georgia.

o The ROK delegation will exert active efforts to make sure that all Parties can take more ambitious climate action, considering their capabilities and conditions.

o The delegation will also ask for the Parties’ interest and cooperation for the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC to be adopted at the 48th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Songdo in October this year.

* unofficial translation