November 8, 2022
Excellencies,
Heads of State and Government;
Her Excellency Madam Clar Marie Weah,
First Lady of the Republic of Liberia;
Your Excellency Mr. António Guterres,
Secretary General of the United Nations;
The President of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference;
Heads of International Organizations;
Distinguished Delegates;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I have the honor to extend my profound thanks and appreciation to the Government and People of the Arab Republic of Egypt for hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt.
When we attended COP26 one year ago in Glasgow, Scotland, our world was just beginning to emerge from the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and there was a sense of recovery and a renewal of hope that we could once again act together, in concert, to re-focus our collective efforts on mitigating the devastating effects of global climate change.
We acknowledged our shortcomings in terms of in-equity, and admitted our shortfalls in meeting our targets for reducing our carbon emissions and footprints. We also re-confirmed our commitments to contribute higher levels of financing to support our efforts, and reviewed and re-evaluated our chances of limiting the rise in global warming to meet our temperature target of 1.5 degrees Centigrade by 2030.
Now, one year later, as we meet in Sharm el-Sheikh today, we are observing, waiting, and hopeful that our promises made in Glasgow will be kept, and pledges fulfilled.
We are also saddened to note that in-equity and imbalance still remain between high and low emitters in the climate change architecture, and that the financial flows within still remain disproportionate and unfair to low-emitting countries, especially those with significant carbon capture capability, who are expected to reserve their forests without commensurate benefit to their populations.
So, as we assemble here once again to find a pragmatic and productive way forward, let us do so with renewed dedication, commitment, and sincerity, so that we harness our collective strengths to develop lasting solutions that will save our world, not only for ourselves, but for generations yet unborn.
Let us stand by the decisions and commitments we make at this COP27 conference here in Egypt to avert a global catastrophe. Together, we can implement and make our one world a better place.
I thank you.