Statement by President von der Leyen at the first Session, ‘One Earth', of the G20

Thank you, Prime Minister Modi, for your leadership and best wishes to President Lula for the upcoming Presidency.

As we address issues that concern Africa profoundly, it is a pleasure to welcome the African Union as a new member of the G20.

I just came back from Kenya, at the Africa Climate Summit.

There, Africa's voice resonated across the globe.

Especially the voice of its youth, via the Kenya Youth Forum, who confronted us to our responsibility, as leaders.

Our countries are burning and drowning, will you be there for us?

Climate change is man-made. So it means we can fix it.

The G20 countries alone account for 80% of the GHG emissions.

Africa, on the other hand, has less than 4% of GHG emissions. But it is among the most affected by climate change.

To tackle this challenge, we need technology and we need finance.

Delivering on the 100 billion dollars climate finance target this year is a must.

The EU is doing its fair share, with 27 billion dollars delivered in 2021, and I want to assure you that we will continue to do so.

But more revenues will be needed. Which brings me to carbon pricing.

In the European Union, our Emissions Trading System has helped reduce emissions by 35 percent, while generating over 152 billion euros of revenues since 2005.

Revenues that we use to invest in green technologies and to support the most vulnerable groups.

Yet only 23 percent of global emissions today are covered by a carbon price in the range needed to meet out Paris goals.

We have launched the Call for Action for Paris Aligned Carbon Markets to bring this share to at least 60 percent. And make sure that a fair and big share of this goes to developing countries and emerging markets.

My second point is about looking at our goals.

Science tells us that we are about to miss our objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.

So it is absolutely critical that we maintain our path of 1.5 degrees. Only what gets measured gets done, we know this principle.

For this, we need to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency until 2030 if we are to reach our goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees. Only what gets measured gets done, we know that principle.

So together with the COP chair Dr Sultan, I would like to call to anchor a global goal at COP28 for renewable energies that have to be reached by 2030 and energy efficiency to 2030. Global goals will provide a benchmark against which to track progress and a strong signal of predictability to the private sector.

In the next 5 years alone, the EU will invest at least 4 billion euros in renewable energy and hydrogen in developing economies through our Global Gateway plan.

Global Gateway is also about sharing technology and re-risking additional private capital. Because if we want to master climate change we also have to attract a lot of private capital.

Climate change is a global thread. And a contributing factor to food insecurity. Food security is also a victim of Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

We call on Russia to allow the grain form Ukraine to reach global markets via the Black Sea.

We are doing our utmost to facilitate the grain to reach global markets via the land route.

But for global prices to stabilise, grain also has to travel by sea.

No one should go hungry and the leaders of the G20 have the responsibility and the tools to enable the flow of grain to where it is needed.