Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,

This meeting comes at the heels of the release of the latest IPCC assessment.

The news is not good and it is hardly a surprise.

We are failing to prevent a climate catastrophe.

Our lives and livelihoods as we know them are at risk.

But I do have some good news.

We know the path to keeping 1.5C within reach and have the solutions.

The message to take away from the latest IPCC report is that now is the time for accelerated action.

To deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement. To make the achievement of the SDGs possible. To deliver climate justice to the most vulnerable.

The Secretary-General has proposed a Climate Solidarity Pact – where all big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions, and wealthier countries mobilize financial and technical resources to support emerging economies in a common effort to keep 1.5 alive.  

For G20 countries, these extra efforts mean an acceleration of action and ambition on all fronts.

He asks all leaders move planning forward by 10 years to achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050 – so, net-zero timelines of 2040 for developed economies, 2050 for developing.

He asks leaders to start the phase out of fossil fuels now.

For ASEAN countries to phaseout coal by 2040, stop building new coal, and stop the expansion or building of new oil and gas.

I see innovation and vision in Southeast Asia – and the understanding that decarbonization is good for the environment, for health – but that it is also a generation-defining business opportunity.

But ASEAN can go farther, together.

Last year’s announcements of the Just Energy Transition Partnerships in Indonesia and Viet Nam are important for the region and for the global collective.

You are pioneering a new framework for cooperation and collaboration to accelerate a just transition away from coal to renewables that is country-led and country-owned. That is fair and inclusive. That does not sacrifice development.

We need international cooperation and support to also speed the decarbonization of high-emitting sectors. No one country alone will crack the nut to decarbonizing steel, cement, shipping and aviation sectors.

To ramp up renewables, we will need investments of up to $4 trillion a year.

The World Bank Spring Meetings next month represents the first litmus test of the international community’s resolve to answer the call to fundamentally reform the international financial architecture this year. To enable affordable, low-cost capital to flow to the places that need it most – the developing world at the pace and scale science demands.

Just as no one country alone can tackle the climate crisis, we need the private sector to play its part in the global transition to net-zero by 2050.

And CEOs to prepare and present credible transition plans in line with the recommendations of the High-Level Expert group on net-zero commitments. And align your business operations and investments to the goals of the Paris Agreement that are ground in real emissions cuts – not on low integrity carbon credits and shadow markets.

Friends,

In less than nine months, leaders will gather at COP28 for the first global stocktake to bring the world in line with the Paris Agreement goals.

In less than six months, the world will gather in New York for the Summit for the SDGs and the Climate Ambition Summit.

We fully hope and expect a strong showing by the Southeast Asian region as champions of this acceleration agenda.

It is what our planet and our peoples need.

Southeast Asia is an economic powerhouse, and I hope you will embrace this opportunity to make it a green one.

Thank you.