Europe celebrates Climate Diplomacy Week - We must act on the Paris Agreement

From 19 June until 2 July, 2017, European embassies around the world are celebrating Climate Diplomacy Week.

This event aims to encourage informed debate and a joint response to the climate challenge. It builds on the momentum of the Paris and Marrakesh Agreements, leading up to the next international climate change conference in November this year in Bonn, Germany.

The landmark Paris Agreement on climate change was a key achievement of multilateralism, of which both the EU and Namibia can and should be proud. And progress on ratification has been extraordinary - the Paris Agreement entered into force on 4th November last year and 144 countries have already ratified it.

The agreement's significance is by no means diminished by the recently announced withdrawal of the United States of America. Now the international community must stick even closer together: for the vision of a global climate-resilient, low-emissions future to materialise, we must now focus all our attention on putting our words into action.



COUNTLESS OPPORTUNITIES

We believe that addressing climate change provides countless opportunities to invent new and better ways to produce and consume, invest and trade and protect lives, assets and livelihood opportunities, for the benefit of all people as well as the planet. To deliver the much-needed economic and social transformation, it will be vital that the emissions reduction targets and adaptation strategies and plans countries have put forward are now translated into concrete, actionable policies and measures in all sectors of the economy. Intent alone does not guarantee delivery.

The EU and its Member States are determined to play our full part in implementing the Paris Agreement, both at home and internationally. Europe has provided and will

continue to provide substantial funding to support climate action in partner countries. In 2015 alone, support totalled EUR 17.6 billion.

Domestically, we are committed to ensuring the completion of the legislative and regulatory package necessary to deliver the EU's target for Paris – reducing emissions by at least 40% by 2030. Our legislative actions cover all sectors of the economy and we are putting energy efficiency first, as well as boosting uptake of renewable energy across the bloc.



IMPROVED GROWTH

We hear and understand concerns that taking action on climate change can affect economic growth. But we have found that the opposite is in fact true: our emissions have fallen by 22% since 1990, while EU GDP has grown by 50%.

During this period, we have created new jobs, businesses, technologies and competitive advantages, preparing our economies well for the climate-resilient, low-carbon future.

At the same time, we are investing in increasing resilience of our societies: our experience shows that for each euro invested in flood protection, we can save six euros in avoided damages. In other words, investing in climate resilience reduces current and future risks.

While the EU has more than two decades of experience in developing and implementing ambitious climate policies, we know that many of our partners are doing so for the first time. We stand ready to share our experiences and lessons learned – and we have already established extensive climate policy cooperation with some of our key partners.

As well as developing long-term climate strategies, there are actions we all need to take urgently now. In just a few months, in November this year, countries will gather in Bonn at COP23 to continue the hard work of turning the political agreement struck in Paris into reality.

Next year we have another milestone ahead of us: the so-called “Facilitative Dialogue” to be held in 2018 will be the first opportunity since Paris to look at our collective efforts to limit global warming and what we have done concretely in terms of delivering on the commitments made. It will be the moment to demonstrate our ability to follow through on what our leaders pledged in Paris.



A TASK FOR ALL

And it is not just governments that are taking action. The global climate challenges are of unprecedented breadth and scale. Businesses, cities and regions and civil society all have a crucial role to play in delivering action on the ground that will really make a difference. We need enhanced cooperation and coordination between governments, civil society, the private sector and other key actors. Only by working together will we be able to live up to the level of ambition we have set ourselves – and the expectations of future generations.

Paris was a defining moment in the fight to safeguard the planet for future generations. We must maintain that momentum in the months and years ahead, because the prize is truly worth it: lower emissions, greater energy security and energy efficiency, innovation-driven growth, job creation, more resilient societies and a better environment.

There is a lot of work to do, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Namibia.

• Yana Hybaskova, Head of the European Delegation to the Republic of Namibia

• Christian Matthias Schlaga, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany

• Concha Figuerola, Ambassador of Spain

• Jacqueline Bassa-Mazzoni, Ambassador of the French Republic

• Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, Ambassador of Portugal

• Anne Saloranta, Ambassador of Finland

• Jo Lomas, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.