Opening remarks by Commissioner Hoekstra during COP28 debate in the European Parliament

Remarks by Commissioner Hoekstra on COP28 in Parliament

Introductory remarks

Thank you madam chair, and good evening ladies and gentlemen.

COP28 marks a crucial, a truly crucial moment for global climate action.

The European Union's bar for success will be very high.

And that is because next generations are expecting us to take responsibility for their futures, too.

The window for action unfortunately is closing.

We can still offer these next generations a 1.5 degree future, but it require that the entire world does take action to reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

In Dubai, parties will have to advance on all elements of the global climate agenda.

That means mitigation, adaptation, and means of implementation.

And this includes climate finance and of course, loss and damage.

Yes, we have seen important progress in the past couple of weeks, and even a breakthrough on the setup of a fund for loss and damage.

And the recent joint statements on climate action from the US and China is another welcome development.

The past six weeks, I have also met with a range of counterparts across the globe.

I spoke to some of our closest progressive partners in Africa and Latin America, and I have reached out to major economies like Brazil and China.

In each of my meetings, I stressed the need, the absolute need to raise climate ambition.

I have reiterated the EU's readiness to play its part.

And I emphasized that we must let ourselves be guided by science and by facts.

We know the direction of travel, we have our plans on how to get there, we simply need to speed up.

So, let me go briefly into the three areas I mentioned before: mitigation, adaptation, and means of implementation.

First: mitigation.

This years COP28 marks the first Global Stocktake.

One thing is clear: all countries should take meaningful action to cut emissions, particularly the world's largest emitters.

The EU has been doing just that.

Following the adoption of nearly all Fit for 55 proposals, we have updated our NDC to provide transparency on how we plan to continue to reduce emissions.

And I have noticed in every single meeting that I had these past weeks: what we do at home is the foundation of our climate diplomacy abroad.

So I want to again thank this House, and the leaders in this House, for their work on our climate and energy legislation.

Our models show that full implementation of our policies will bring an emission reduction of around 57% by 2030.

It puts Europe firmly on track to reach climate neutrality by 2050.

To say the same about the entire world, we need to peak fossil fuels consumption this decade and phase out unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050.

We also need to stop new coal-based power capacity, triple renewable energy and double the rate of energy efficiency by 2030.

And frankly speaking we must quickly decarbonise the global power system.

Your resolution points exactly in this same direction.

It is also in line with the Global Energy Pledge that we jointly pursue with the COP28 Presidency.

Ladies and gentlemen, as the climate crisis intensifies, preparing for its impact will become unfortunately more and more important.

Our guiding star for adaptation is strengthening resilience while focusing on the lives and livelihoods of particularly those who are in the most vulnerable parts of our continent, but frankly speaking the whole world.

Through the Global Goal on Adaptation, we must strengthen adaptation planning, track progress, and mainstream climate resilience into every investment decision.

But for all these goals to be achieved, COP28 must also bring progress on aligning all financial flows with the Paris Agreement.

Strong commitments, and I say it again, strong commitments to shift funds away from fossil fuels are particularly important.

This can include phasing out fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or the just transition, promoting the use of domestic carbon pricing, and agreeing international crediting rules that truly help transform financing for climate action.

In this context, we have invited different countries to join a Call to Action for Paris-aligned Carbon Markets.

Solidarity is another key component of our climate finance discussions.

The EU will continue to deliver its fair share of the 100bn goal.

A new target for after 2025 should be part of global efforts that mobilize a wide variety of sources, both public and private, to meet the goal of the Paris Agreement.

And last but certainly not least, I remain committed to enabling the launch of the loss and damage fund at COP28.

This needs to happen in a context where we can all feel confident that in parallel, we will see deep emissions reductions this decade.

That is and remains the best way to minimise future loss and damage.

The fund is open to contributions from all parties, and this is crucial.

Because I strongly believe that all who do have the ability to pay, should indeed do so and I will continue to push for that in the conversations I'm having.

We cannot base this kind of funding on an economic division between developed and developing countries that might have made sense back in 1992.

Climate action is to be a global responsibility, and climate change is a threat that we all face.

So every country, literally every country, must do its utmost to eliminate its emissions and to defend its citizens and its future generations, from the impacts of climate change.

Thank you chair.