Poland

I’d first like to thank the Presidency of the COP for the enormous efforts it deployed to organize this 24th session in Katowice, Poland.
 
I also want to acknowledge the tireless work of Patricia Espinosa, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change], as well as of her staff throughout this session.
 
And I of course want to thank all Member States for their commitment and dedication which was once again demonstrated through countless long hours of work here during the last few days
 

Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
 
In my opening statement to this conference one week ago, I told you that this was the most important COP since the adoption of the Paris Agreement.
 
I warned that climate change is running faster than we are and that Katowice must—in no uncertain terms—be a success, as a necessary platform to reverse this trend.
 
To achieve it, I said that ambition and compromises were both needed. Never have the stakes been higher.
 
I left Katowice hopeful, but uncertain.

Minister Kurtyka, Minister Morawiecki, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, ladies and gentlemen 
 
It is a pleasure to address you at this exciting event.     
 
I want to thank the Government of Poland and in-coming COP president Mr. Kurtyka and the United Kingdom for launching this initiative.
 
This event is exciting because it is a key step towards the sustainability transition that we all know is needed.
 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
We all know the massive scale of the climate challenge we face.
 
And we all know we are not on track.
 
I am pleased to be with you today to talk about the Climate Summit I will host next September in New York to help put us on track.
 
The Summit will focus on delivering three key outcomes: raising real ambition; transformative action in the real economy; and an unprecedented citizen and youth mobilization.
 
First, ambition.
 
Countries need notably to fulfil their pledges.