1. The second bilateral meeting on climate change between the Republic of Korea and Singapore will take place in Singapore on January 20, with Ambassador for Climate Change Choi Jai-chul of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and his Singaporean counterpart Kwok Fook Seng leading their respective delegations.

° The ROK delegation to the meeting will be comprised of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy -- the government agencies handling climate change negotiations with foreign countries and relevant domestic policies. The Singaporean side will include those from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, and the Prime Minister's Office.

2. The ROK has held bilateral meetings with Singapore on the sidelines of Conferences of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCCs) to exchange views on the issue. The purpose of the forthcoming meeting with Singapore is to discuss in depth the progress in the negotiations on a new climate regime, which are in full gear with the target deadline for their conclusion set for the end of the year 2015.

° In the upcoming meeting, the two sides will discuss in depth main elements for a draft negotiating text of the 2015 Agreement on the new, post-2020 climate regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol as well as the work to set their intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) and other relevant domestic measures. Furthermore, the two sides will discuss ways to expand strategic collaboration in preparing for the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21) to take place in Paris in 2015.

3. The ROK and Singapore, both emerging countries with an energy-intensive economic structure, seek to play a bridging role between developed and developing countries at climate change negotiations. Under the circumstances, they both see a need to coordinate their policies on climate change and share their relevant experiences with each other. In that vein, the forthcoming meeting is expected to contribute greatly to enhancing their negotiating capabilities on the new climate regime.

◦ The ROK and Singapore share many similar policies, including their position that all developed and developing countries should make efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, but with their national circumstances taken adequately into account. 


                            Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation