Rich, Poor States Classification Remains Big Issue at COP21 Talks

PARIS (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — The mechanism for defining whether a state is developed or developing is still one of the main unresolved issues at the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21), preventing an overarching agreement to combat climate change being reached, Alf Wills, a representative of the South African delegation to the conference, told Sputnik on Thursday.

The financial obligations of the parties to the treaty will depend on whether it is categorized as a developed or a developing state.

"How does one differentiate between developed and developing countries, do you choose an Annex 1 versus non-Annex kind of division or do you operationalize the principle of common differentiation on basis of respective capabilities? This is the question which is not resolved yet, it’s one of the big issues," Wills said on the sidelines of the 21st UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Under the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change, developed countries, or so-called Annex 1 parties, are defined as industrialized countries that were Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members in 1992, as well as countries with economies in transition (the EIT Parties), including the Russian Federation, the Baltic states, and several Central and Eastern European states.

The states participating in the Paris conference are expected to reach a final agreement to address global warming and cut carbon emissions, introducing a legally binding and universal strategy on the issue, which is expected to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on Friday.