COP29: Speech by EU Commissioner Hoekstra at the Copenhagen Ministerial

Thank you very much, Chair, and let me start by thanking Dan [Jørgensen] for this excellent conference.

I think it is a great way to solidify at least the opportunity to have success at the next COP. Also thank you very much for taking us to Hamlet’s Castle and to invite the national football team.

I do hope they find it as cool to be here with us as we find it to be with them. We might find out in the conversations we’re having with them.

When I think about what success was at the previous COP and what I think we need to solidify, it is probably the combination of teamwork, of building coalitions, like we’re trying to do here, and the noble art of compromise.

That should be the ingredients going forward.

And let me make a couple of point specifically on the financing.

Clearly, as many have said, mobilising sufficient financing is absolutely essential if we want to tackle what is needed in terms of mitigation and in terms of adaptation.

And let me reiterate once more, the EU is absolutely committed to set up an ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).

We will continue to contribute our fair share. Some would say, actually more than our fair share.          

I also would like to echo what Graham [Stuart] and Stéphane [Séjourné] said. That is that we do hope, and we actually do expect others step up as well, simply because the task at hand is so tremendously large.

And as Ministers, I mean the ministers gathered here, but also the Finance Ministers, and our leaders, we will all need to address what I feel are in essence three basic questions: what size, what counts and who pays.

1. So, the size is, what is the size of the goal?
2. What financial flows count actually towards that goal?
3. And who pays is pretty clear, who will in the end contribute to that goal?

And we might not be able, as always in a negotiation, to close any of these completely before the COP, but I do think it makes sense to try to make progress at each of these three levels.

There is one specific question I was curious about to mention as well. That is on the 1 trillion that was mentioned earlier. I’d be curious to learn whether the scope of transaction will be the same or a different one than the 100 billion, because that would have significant ramifications. I do think that that is something we should continue the conversation on.

Let me also say that it is absolutely critical that we keep the NCQG in context of the overall challenge of ensuring that the financial flows are aligned with the Paris rules and the 1.5 [degrees]. They’re not two separate discussions and we do need to make sure and continue to link these, that is the reason why we are doing all of this.

Then maybe a couple of things many have said, but I do feel are important to reiterate.

Public money clearly is part of the solution. 

More of it is needed, but there is no walkaround: we need more money than public budgets can sustain. So, finding ways to unleash private sector money is absolutely essential as many of us have articulated.

We need to think about innovative ways of doing that. For us the European union, that means for example that we are looking into what that would imply for the fossil fuel sector, what it means in terms of other high emission sectors, what we can do in terms of green premiums.

I would invite everyone to try to make this as concrete as possible, towards the next COP.

Also, it is important that the NCQG is available, and that it provides certainty and predictability, for our citizens, for our businesses and for our countries.

And if I may be a bit critical, I think we can do even better in prioritising in how we invest these resources.

We simply have to recognise that public finance on grant and concession terms must be prioritised to reach the poorest and most vulnerable. That is in the end what solidarity is in our views.

In the end, the whole endeavour is not about shifting responsibility, but jointly taking responsibility.

And if we do that, I am sure we can mobilise all the financing that is needed and the climate and future generations need.

So, we are all in, we are very much committed.

And we are very much looking forward to continuing the battle.

Thank you.

Source – EU Commission