©Cempaka
Statement by H.E. Mr Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly at 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change in Paris
7 December 2015
Merci beaucoup Mr President, Mr Secretary-General, Honourable Ministers, Ms Figueres, ladies and gentlemen, we all know we are closing in on a moment of immense historical importance.
A moment where we, the international community, finally decide on the future we want for our world.
Fail, and we fail each other; millions of the world’s most vulnerable people; future generations; and the planet upon which our survival depends.
Succeed, however, we succeed together based on our shared humanity.
We embrace our moral responsibility and we signal the rise of the only development model capable of achieving both global prosperity and environmental sustainability.
Minister Fabius, I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here with you today. Your Government and the People of France have demonstrated incredible resolve and courage these past weeks.
I sincerely hope that the international community will reward your efforts this week with an ambitious and universal climate agreement.
Excellencies, only two months ago, your governments enthusiastically embraced the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In doing so, we agreed to a common destination – a world free of poverty and hunger; a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
What we need now, and what we can deliver this week, is a political agreement on how to reach this destination while keeping global average temperature rise below the 2 degrees Celsius.
Such a political agreement must place ambition, action and equity at its core.
It must include a commitment to close the ’emissions gap’ between what is pledged and what is scientifically required.
It must promote resilience by demonstrating a new level of global solidarity with developing countries, especially the most vulnerable among them.
It must include a commitment and provide the regulatory framework to scale up public and private funding.
This includes defining trajectories to meet the $100 billion a year climate financing commitment and, indeed, to go beyond it.
And, finally, it must ensure greater transparency and accountability in terms of climate efforts and finance delivery.
In this regard, a mechanism to promote progress, assess pledges, increase accountability and scale-up ambition at regular intervals will be critical.
Excellencies, deliver this political agreement and you will set in train a succession of collaboratory climate actions right across the world; actions which will also contribute to reaching the overall sustain.
Actions from young people, faith leaders, civil society and community organizations such as those who fight for environmental justice on a daily basis and who marched in their hundreds of thousands only one week ago around the world.
Actions from leaders of major cities such as the C40, who have committed to reduce their CO2 emissions by 2030 by an amount equivalent to the annual carbon output of India.
Actions from business leaders, such as the CEOs of the 78 major companies who last week announced their support for climate action, because it is both good for the environment, good for the people and good for business.
Actions from the $80 trillion collective of institutions investors, pension funds, capital funds and insurance companies, such as the 490 institutions who together have already divested over $2.6 trillion from fossil fuels.
During the remainder of my Presidency of the General Assembly, it is actions like these from actors like these that I will be promoting.
Because whereas 2015 has been about reaching agreements in Sendai, Addis, New York and, I hope, here in Paris; 2016 will be all about their early implementation.
In April, therefore, I am organizing a major event in the UN Headquarters focused on gearing up to realize the Sustainable Development Goals.
It will discuss steps governments are taking to kick start implementation.
It will be an opportunity to catalyze action on key issues such as finance, data, technology and partnerships with leaders from private business and civil society.
It will provide a platform for new initiatives and, building on the outcome of this conference, it will look to how climate action can support the overall SDG implementation.
This week, however, the focus will remain firmly on you, Excellencies.
For without your leadership, no amount of collaborative action will surface.
Without your solidarity, our world’s most vulnerable people will most definitely be left behind.
And without your commitment, the transition will be too little, too late.
We are now are in the final stretch.
Will you deliver the commitments, concessions and compromises required to avert the worst impacts and protect those most vulnerable to climate change?
Will you signal to people everywhere that the shift to a low-carbon climate resilient economy is well and truly underway?
As the delegated authorities of your governments, only you can answer these questions.
But the entire world awaits your response.
I thank you very much.