Today, December 8, the British Ambassador Rachel Galloway hosted a meeting to mark the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement today, ahead of the Climate Ambition Summit due to be held online on 12 of December 2020.
The Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Naser Nuredini, the French Ambassador, Cyrille Baumgartner, the Italian Ambassador, Andrea Silvestri, the UN Resident Coordinator, Rossana Dudziak, and the Head of EU Delegation, David Geer, attended the meeting to discuss climate change and how important it is not to lose track on our common objective.
The historic Paris Agreement was critical because it was the first time the world’s governments agreed to decarbonise the global economy. Five years on from COP21 in Paris, we have reached a defining international moment where governments will need to significantly upgrade the commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
On December 12, the UK and France will co-host a Climate Ambition Summit with the UN, and in partnership with Italy and Chile. This will provide a platform for leaders who are ready to come forward with announcements of new, more ambitious NDCs and long term strategies. This should put us firmly on a greener, more resilient, sustainable path.
Rossana Dudziak, UN Resident Coordinator, noted that “Following the warmest decade since records exist, facing the devastating toll of the air-pollution to our health and witnessing the severe ecological degradation are all serious final warnings for all of us to do something towards reduction of climate change. There are stark warnings that we must act immediately, individually and jointly.”
We also discussed the COP26 climate summit that UK and Italy will host in Glasgow next year. It will be a pivotal moment for the world to come together and re-commit to more ambitious actions and targets to prevent the catastrophic warming of our planet.
We truly believe that young people hold a central role in fighting climate change. They need to be involved, committed and heard. Prior to the COP26 summit, in September 2021, a youth event will be organized by the Italian co-Presidency in Milan, to engage younger generations in recognition of their increasing call for global action to tackle climate change. The representatives of the new generations will also actively take part in the “pre-COP” negotiations. Innovative elements and new ideas are the expected outcome of such an involvement.
During the meeting we focused on the progress of North Macedonia and welcomed the work the Government is doing to develop its own ambitions for COP26. Minister Nuredini announced ambitious targets in the enhanced NDC that is currently in Governmental adoption procedure, as well as the finalization of the first drafts of a Long-term Strategy and Law on Climate action. We spoke also about North Macedonia’s National Energy Strategy and we encouraged the government to adopt the greenest option of the strategy as soon as possible. The new implementation plan of the strategy will identify the actions needed to move away from coal-powered energy to alternatives such as solar, wind and hydro, paving the way to cleaner, greener and more sustainable future. The ambassadors and the UN coordinator recalled the minister to engage in those activities soon and gave their support for it.
North Macedonia’s effort in the fight against climate change is also expected to contribute to the collective effort of the European Union, being soon on the path of the EU integration. Today, the EU is on track to exceed its target of reducing CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990. It should actually reduce its emissions by 24% by 2020 compared to 1990. The European green deal is now our new growth plan.
Today we are celebrating what has often been called “the spirit of Paris” – the exceptional mobilization of the international community that led to the adoption of the first universal climate agreement. But we are all looking to the future. We must all accelerate together and show our fellow citizens that we have not forgotten the promise that was made in Paris 5 years ago. The future lies in strengthening the commitments of the Parties to the agreement, so that its objectives are achieved. In the year ahead, we should all raise ambition for climate action.
