At the start of the second week and this next intense period of work.
I thank you all for the hard work and progress made thus far.
Colleagues, if you don’t begin bending the emissions curve In the next two years, we will pass key tipping points.
What you’re negotiating today can set our trajectory on these points of no return.
If we pass these key thresholds, we can never go back.
From the planet’s perspective, 1.5 is a tangible limit.
It is not simply a choice. Past 1.5 degrees and we’re likely to irreversibly lose ice sheets.
If they go, there will be a 10 meter sea level rise across the globe.
This will flood central parts of most coastal cities and coastal areas, forcing hundreds of millions of people to relocate.
Pass 1.5 and we’re likely to lose all tropical coral reef systems, which provide the sustenance and livelihoods to hundreds of millions of people.
Past 1.5 models predict that in less than 50 years, 2 billion people will live in areas so hot they are beyond the human limit and are a threat to life.
The transition we need to make is nothing compared to the one that would be forced on us if we let go of the 1.5 ambition.
Technology can help us, but it can only complement political commitments.
It cannot replace them. So when you’re looking at the global stocktake text, look at it through this lens.
Today, We have a starting text that is a mixture of posturing and lowest common denominator positions.
We have a week left. The challenge now is to sort the wheat from the chaff.
There are low, middle and high ambitions options on many issues.
If we want to save lives now and keep the 1.5 goal within reach, the highest ambition cop outcomes must stay front and center.
As negotiators, you need to start with the highest ambition outcome and ask, how do we get there?
Yes, you must make compromises, but not on 1.5 degrees.
And you must not leave adaptation behind. Even if we are successful in arresting global warming, huge changes are already in motion.
We need to build a world resilient enough to manage those changes.
We have to get a strong text on the global goal on adaptation.
Posturing and undue procedural hindrances must not stand in the way of an effective outcome on this matter.
Science-based targets must be our North Star. And economic policies must be the rocket that gets us there.
The scale of the transition we’re discussing is huge.
These policies must provide the soft landing for areas most affected by the transition and ensure no one is left behind.
Adjust transition is crucial. These texts must signal the investments in the transition that are going to make it all possible.
We had a lot of pledges in the first week. We have to use that positive momentum to get us that ambitious text.
I also want to end with tipping points. They work both ways. If we get an ambitious bold text that commits us to keep in 1.5 degrees alive, We will see some great tipping points.
We will see money starting to pour into renewable energy and away from uncertain carbon-emitting projects.
We will see finance driven by the right incentives accelerate climate action in the south as well as the north.
We will see a dramatic drop in air pollution and their health benefits.
We will see a discernible shift towards global resilience and nurturing the well-being of all human beings.
And we will see public opinion swinging behind bold leaders who safeguard the future.
So let’s reflect on the power you have over the coming days to put the world on the right track.
It is an opportunity which I hope you agree will be too good to let slip between our fingers.
I thank you.