Signature Ceremony for the Paris Agreement

Opening remarks by H.E. Mr Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th session of the General Assembly at Opening Segment of Signature Ceremony for the Paris Agreement

22 April 2016

 

Heads of State and Government, Mr. Secretary-General, Honorable Ministers, Excellences, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to address the opening segment of this Paris Agreement Signing Ceremony.

 

This is a moment of great hope.

 

And for that I say congratulations.

 

To Heads of State and Government, for demonstrating what true leadership is all about; for finding a way when many said it could not be done.

 

To civil society and business leaders, for keeping the pressure on and taking initiatives to keep the momentum going.

 

To the governments of France, Peru and previous COP Presidents for shepherding through this historic breakthrough with remarkable skill and effort.

 

And to the UN Secretary-General, His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, for his tireless commitment and leadership in the long journey to Paris.

 

Together with Ms Christina Figueres, the UNFCCC and others in the UN system, the Secretary-General never once lost hope, never once passed up on an opportunity to drive the negotiations forward.

 

To honor his work, to make the sacrifices made by all of you worthwhile, we know what we must do.

 

We must raise the level of ambition even further.

 

We must take bold steps to make this transformation happen now.

Thank you.

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