“Check against delivery”
Excellencies,
Fellow leaders,
Today it is all about implementation. And I want to focus on 2 powerful tools: finance and partnerships. Climate finance is one of the core topics in the coming days. It’s not just about money. It’s also about trust. Last year the European Union contributed close to 30 billion dollars in climate finance to developing countries. We have consistently delivered to meet the ‘100 billion’ target by the end of this year. We committed to doubling finance for adaptation. And it is a priority for us to make sure that the new Loss & Damage Fund can start without delay. Yesterday, I announced that 25 million euro from the EU budget will be available right away to help operationalize the Fund. Several Member States announced contributions, to make sure that the Fund is up and running in no time. But more is needed.
We have to move from billions to trillions. To get there, we need to find new sources of revenue. First, I fully support the initiative of President Ruto and President Macron to develop new levies to raise more money for climate action. Second, we have to grow the green bond market, especially in developing countries. Green Bonds facilitate the flow of private capital in green projects. Therefore, we have launched the Global Green Bond Initiative to attract private capital to developing countries. That is where the private capital has to go. And third, we have to expand carbon pricing. In Europe, we have nearly 2 decades of experience in carbon pricing. Let me give you two figures. In this period, emissions covered by our system went down by almost 40%. The economy kept growing. And we have raised over 175 billion euros in revenues. And these revenues are going to climate action, including in developing countries. Yesterday, we teamed up with the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO to scale up carbon markets, and to develop criteria for true carbon credits. And of course we have to reform the international financial architecture.
My second point is on partnerships. Climate change causes tremendous instability and suffering. But the necessary transition also creates tremendous economic opportunity. That is why we have made clean tech and clean energy a priority of Global Gateway. This is Europe’s 300-billion-euro global investment programme. We have signed ambitious projects with many partners in this room. We de-risk investments. We invest in local value creation in our partner countries. Our emphasis is on renewable energy and clean hydrogen. And this creates a perfect win-win-situation. Developing countries want to leapfrog into a clean energy future, while industrialising and creating good jobs for their people. They are a crucial part of the solution. And we Europeans are interested to invest because this diversifies and strengthens our supply chains in these growing new markets. It is the best investment any of us can make.
Thank you.
Source – EU Commission