Climate and Sustainable Development for All (Closing Remarks)

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd Session of the UN General Assembly

29 March 2019

Ambassador de Alba, I thank you for your statement, and for your commitment to ensure that we have an action-focused summit in September.

Excellencies,

Distinguished colleagues,

Distinguished delegates,

Distinguished youth representatives – it’s very good to have you here,

Thank you all for your contributions during this High-Level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development For All.

I am immensely grateful to delegates, and to the Secretariat staff, for staying beyond the planned end time, in order to give over 100 speakers the opportunity to address this meeting. Thank you very much for walking the extra mile.

I think that discussions on climate change – and we know this – are often depressing. We hear analysis, as we did yesterday from the World Meteorological Organization, that the physical and financial impacts of Climate Change are accelerating, unfortunately. We hear about the tragic human impacts of events such as Cyclone Idai.

We all came together and we all worked hard, even during lunchtime, identifying transformative and scale-able initiatives that will help us get where we need to be by September, and certainly by 2020.

Your messages over the last two days have been loud and clear.

Our window to act is closing. If we want to achieve our vision of a peaceful, prosperous world; if we want to secure the future of humanity, we must act and we must act now.

Climate change is already threatening to reverse the development gains we have made. Last year, some 60 million people were affected by extreme weather, which destroyed lives and livelihoods in all regions. By 2030, over ten times that number could be displaced by water scarcity alone. The synergies between sustainable development and climate change are clear.

But we already knew this. We know what is happening. We know the data and science. So what action will we take?

Over the course of this meeting, three priorities have emerged clearly.

First, action to increase dramatically our ambition. We must ensure that our policies – and our politicians – reflect the science. According to UN Environment and others, that means accelerating action to curb emissions 3-5 times.

A change in ambition, however, requires a change in approach, of course. To date, policymakers have seriously under-estimated the benefits of climate-smart growth – which, some say, could be 26 trillion dollars, even more; not to mention all the jobs that could be created. Our first panel, on synergies between the climate and sustainable development agendas, homed in on this. Key points will be circulated, as Ambassador de Alba stated, in a presidential summary after this meeting.

Second, we need action in the “real economy”. After a very successful set of Leaders’ Roundtables, we now have nine coalitions of leaders from different regions and sectors that have begun the important work of identifying climate action initiatives ahead of the Abu Dhabi preparatory meeting in June. These initiatives can then be scaled up in time for the Climate Action Summit in September. We cannot miss this opportunity. That is very clear.

And third, action across generations. The inclusion of youth and elders was extremely useful in shaping our discussions, and looking to future generations was, I think, the value-add of this high-level meeting.

I am so delighted that we had almost fifty-fifty representation of high-level and young participants.

My generation owes the youth of today an apology: we ignored the evidence for too long. We opted for business as usual. This has to change.

Thankfully, there is still time to change course. Young people must be included in all our discussions, in all our plans and programmes. Likewise, we must learn from our elders, from our indigenous peoples – who have much to teach us about environmental stewardship.

And this should not be limited to a token youth representative, a token elder or a token indigenous voice. Because you have different ideas and insights, different needs and concerns. And we need them all to deliver a “business unusual” approach.

Climate change is not a future challenge. It is happening today.  But if we work together, we can unlock the opportunities that are available now. That message came through loud and clear yesterday.

And concrete next steps were discussed in the second panel on Means of Implementation – on partnerships, low-carbon technologies and capacity-building for present and future generations.

This year has the potential to be remembered as the turning point for climate change. So let’s be bold. Audacious, even.

And let’s use every opportunity – Abu Dhabi in June, the High-Level Political Forum in July and of course the Climate Action Summit and SDG Summit in September – to make sure we succeed.

Before closing this event, I have a short message to the youth representatives and YOUNGO members in the audience.

Thank you all for being a part of this meeting. It was important for me to have young change-makers join us, given the intergenerational focus mandated by Member States.

You have been, and continue to be strong advocates for climate justice around the world, and bring with you the innovation and the drive that is needed to preserve our climate for present and future generations.

I hope that you take with you the support expressed by heads of state and governments and ministers and remain bold in your engagement in climate processes.

Your participation in the Leaders’ luncheon and in the panel discussions was integral to their successes, and I believe we have set the bar for mainstreaming youth engagement in all tracks moving towards the Climate Action Summit and on to COP25.

Another key take-away is the need for youth integration in the change of paradigm and approach needed to achieve the climate and sustainable development agendas. 

For our part, we must create spaces for youth to contribute. And those of us here, now, must work towards a future in which better standards of living can be guaranteed for those who will come tomorrow. Let us keep in touch!

A summary of this meeting will be circulated. And with that, I now close this High-level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development For All.