Opening Remarks of the Climate Diplomacy Day Reception
Your Excellency, Minister of Environment Dr Khaled Fahmy,
Excellences colleagues Ambassadors, representatives of the Ministries, civil society organisations, journalists, students, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you and host on behalf of the EU this event dedicated to the fight against Climate Change. The European Union worldwide is organising Climate Action Days in different shapes to raise awareness for what might be the most crucial struggle of this century.
Last December, 195 countries gathered in Paris to negotiate a new global climate agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The result – the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal – sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2oC. To further underline their determination countries also agreed to pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1,5oC. Now, ten months on from that historic outcome, the European Union remains proud of the ambitious Paris Agreement, as I believe Egypt is too.
However there is no room for complacency after the success of the Paris Conference; for the vision of a global low emissions future to materialise, our attention needs to turn to putting our words into action.
Already this year, we have seen encouraging signs that our partners around the world are keen to maintain the unprecedented political momentum in support of climate action.
On 5th October the Paris Agreement, quite less than one year after its adoption, reached the necessary threshold to enter into force as 197 countries had signed the Agreement and 75 had completed their domestic ratification procedures. The EU, which already played a decisive role in the adoption of the Paris Agreement last December, ratified the Paris Agreement by vote in the European Parliament on 4th of October triggering also the action in the rest of the world.
We encourage Egypt to join in and ratify the Paris Agreement as soon as possible.
Ratification is of course an important step towards achieving the implementation of the Paris Agreement, but ratifying the agreement on its own will not deliver the necessary greenhouse gas reductions, adaptation action and financing. Equally important are the effective steps that all countries will take to meet the commitments made in Paris, starting with the policy and legislative frameworks required to develop robust national climate plans and international approaches.
The EU and its Member States are taking concrete implementation very seriously. We are moving forward with our ambitious domestic climate policies, with new proposals that will help us meet our emissions reduction target of at least 40% by 2030 and further drive the transition to a low-carbon economy. We hear and understand concerns that taking action against climate change can affect economic growth. But we have found that the opposite is true: our emissions have decreased by 23% since 1990, while GDP has grown by 46% in the same period. During these years we have created new jobs, businesses, technologies and competitive advantages that prepare us better for the new climate compatible economy.
The EU has more than two decades of experience in developing and implementing ambitious climate policy, but we know that many of our partners are doing so for the first time. We stand ready to share our experience and lessons learned for the benefit of others – in fact we already have extensive climate policy co-operation with some of our key partners, including Egypt.
Tonight the EU Ambassadors will present trees to be planted in Cairo Ezbet El Nasr Area, in the framework of the Urban Development Programme, jointly financed by Germany and the EU and implemented by GIZ. This project is a symbolic example of the EU support to Climate Action.
Adaptation to, and mitigation of climate change are important priorities of our assistance programme here in Egypt. Over 700 million Euros of EU grant assistance in Egypt is climate relevant, and part of this has also helped leveraging additional concessional loans from the European Investment Bank and other EU development Banks for some 4.65 Billion Euros. In addition, EU member states are implementing their own climate relevant assistance to Egypt.
These projects work in such areas as renewable and clean energy, energy efficiency, transport, sanitation, water and waste management, pollution abatement, housing and agriculture.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In just about a few weeks, countries will gather in Marrakesh to start to add the technical detail to the breakthrough political agreement in Paris. Building capacity to act, addressing loss and damage associated with climate change and setting out a roadmap to reach climate finance targets are just some of the issues on the table.
And it is not just governments taking action. Businesses, cities and civil society all have a crucial role to play in delivering the action on the ground that will really make a difference.
Paris was a defining moment in the safeguarding of the planet for future generations. We must maintain that momentum in the months and years ahead, because the prize is worth it: lower emissions, greater energy security and energy efficiency, innovation-driven growth. There is lots of work to do, and we look forward to continued partnership with Egypt.
Tonight, I would like to extend my gratitude for your support to the cause of climate action. I would like to give as well special thanks to German Embassy, represented tonight by Ambassador of Germany Mr Julius Georg LUY for being long standing partner for Climate Action in Egypt, including in the framework of the Urban Development Programme.
Following the speeches we will have the chance of watching the film called "No Country Alone", produced by the EU financed CLIMA South project on climate change in the Mediterranean.
Everybody is most welcome! Enjoy the evening and feel at home. Thank you!
Reinhold Brender,
Chargé d'Affaires a.i., of the EU Delegation to Egypt