Official speeches and statements of november 30, 2015
1 - Paris Climate Conference - Opening speech by M. François Hollande, President of the Republic
Secretary-General of the United Nations, cher Ban Ki-moon,
Heads of state and government,
Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC,
Ladies and gentlemen ministers,
GLOBAL WARMING/TERRORISM
Today is a historic day. France is hosting 150 heads of state and government, and thousands of delegates from every
continent. Never before has a conference received so many authorities from so many countries. And never - truly
never - have the stakes of an international meeting been so high. For the future of the planet, and the future of life,
are at stake.
And yet, two weeks ago, here in Paris, a group of fanatics brought death to the streets. I would now like to express
the gratitude of the French people for all the gestures of support, all the messages, and all the signs of friendship
that we have received since 13 November.
These tragic events are terrible, but at the same time they bring us obligations. They mean we have to focus on what
is essential. Your presence gives immense hope that we have no right to dash, for the eyes of peoples and billions of
human beings are on us.
For me, there is no dichotomy between the fight against terrorism and the fight against global warming. They are two
great global challenges that we need to address, because we must leave our children more than just a world freed
from terror. We owe them a planet protected from disasters, a viable planet.
CLIMATE JUSTICE/GLOBAL STABILITY
The year we have just experienced beat all records: record temperatures, record CO₂ concentrations, and record
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numbers of extreme climate events: droughts, floods, cyclones, melting ice, rising sea levels and ocean acidification.
The victims of these phenomena are counted in millions and the material damage in billions. No country and no
region is safe from the effects of climate disruption.
How could we accept that the poorest countries, those that emit the fewest greenhouse gases, those that are the
most vulnerable, should once again be worst affected?
It is in the name of climate justice that I speak to you today. It is in the name of climate justice that we must take
action. We need to take note of the seriousness of the threat to the world's equilibrium. Global warming heralds
conflicts just as clouds herald a storm. It causes migration which throws more refugees out onto the roads than
warfare itself. Governments may no longer be able to satisfy the vital needs of their citizens with the risks of famine,
rural exodus and conflicts to access a good that is increasingly scarce: water.
ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE
Yes, what is at stake at this Climate Conference is peace. Yet hopes have been raised with the preparation of COP21.
In September this year, the international community adopted a comprehensive agenda through the Sustainable
Development Goals, which were endorsed during the United Nations General Assembly. I would like to congratulate
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on that.
A hundred and ninety states - almost all the world's countries - have drawn up action plans to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and adapt to climate disruption. And all global society's stakeholders - local government, businesses,
investors and citizens of all the great world regions - have also committed to the climate.
This increased awareness and this mobilization are bolstered by the lightning progress made in clean and renewable
energy sources, which open up the prospect of a carbon-free economy. So to ensure a successful conference, France
has given its all, and mobilized its whole government - starting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International
Development, Laurent Fabius, who will preside over this conference.
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS AT COP21
I have visited the regions most affected by climate change myself, and come back with the same conviction that we
need to ensure sustainable, fair development without compromising our planet's limited resources. That is the
equation we need to solve together during this conference.
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I wanted the heads of state and government of the whole world to be mobilized from the outset of our work, to give
this conference momentum and ambition equal to what is at stake. For an agreement needs to be reached in Paris on
12 December. Under what conditions can we consider that it is a good agreement, that it is a great agreement, and
that it is an agreement that genuinely corresponds to the expectations of the world's peoples, and in the long term?
There are three conditions for us to be able to say that the Paris Climate Conference is or is not a success.
LIMITING GLOBAL WARMING
The first is that we need to define and mark out a credible path that will enable us to contain global warming below
2°C or even 1.5°C, if possible. For us to be sure that we are on that path, we need to provide for a regular assessment
of our progress with regard to the conclusions of scientists and, thus, establish a «ratcheting-up» mechanism equal to
our commitments, with meetings every five years.
FAIRNESS
The second condition is that we bring a mutually-supportive response to the climate challenge. No government should
be able to shirk its commitments, even if a differentiation mechanism may take into account national circumstances
and levels of development. No territory should be left alone to face climate change, particularly the most vulnerable
countries.
I have in mind those islands that could, in a short time, quite simply disappear. Here, I want to be their
spokesperson, because the planet's very biodiversity - and diversity - are at stake. We need to draw conclusions from
this: the agreement must be universal, differentiated and binding. The developed countries need to shoulder their
historic responsibility, as they are the ones that have emitted the most greenhouse gases over the years.
The emerging countries need to speed up their energy transition, and the developing countries need to be supported
in their adaptation to climate impacts. This is why financing needs to be provided to facilitate technology transfers.
In Copenhagen, we set the target of $100 billion. Today, it is not a target that we need to set, it is resources that we
need to identify, with guarantees on their origin and their accessibility.
MOBILIZATION OF SOCIETIES
Lastly, the third condition for an agreement in Paris is that all our societies, in their great plurality and diversity,
need to be mobilized. All local leaders, investors, economic and social stakeholders, citizens and even great
consciences and religions, all those who contribute to shaping the global public opinion, have to understand that
things have changed. That is the key to addressing the climate challenge.
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Today, I would like to pay tribute to the pioneers of the ecological cause, to all the precursors who, not so long ago,
had to face incredulity and disdain for their warnings and proposals. In a few years, mindsets have changed
profoundly. Businesses and financial stakeholders, who yesterday were reluctant, are now prepared to commit and
change their behaviour.
Do they still need to be sent the necessary signals? That is the challenge of the gradual introduction of carbon
pricing, so that greenhouse gas emissions have a cost that corresponds to the damage inflicted upon the planet, and
investment decisions are gradually changed so that all technologies can be universally accessible.
Heads of state and government, I am going to be frank: to resolve the climate crisis, goodwill and statements of
intent are not enough. We are coming to a breaking point. Paris must be the starting point of a profound shift. We
can no longer consider nature as a mere bottomless reservoir of resources there for our sole and full benefit.
This transformation is both a moral obligation and a global opportunity, for it opens up possibilities for development
with renewable energies, clean transport, waste recycling, agro-ecology, preservation of biodiversity, and universal
access to all global public goods.
SUMMIT CHALLENGES
Thus, when electricity is made accessible to all, particularly in Africa, more than just light will be provided.
Knowledge, education and development will be brought. On this first day of the conference, we have a wall to climb.
This wall is built of our selfishness, our apprehensions and our resignation. This wall is built of indifference,
carelessness and powerlessness. It is not insurmountable. Everything depends on us.
Heads of state and government, the hopes of all mankind rest upon your shoulders. I, myself, see in my own role how
we need to combine the imperative of urgency - and everything it brings with it, including tragic events - and
long-term choices. Of course, that balance is not easy to find, far from it. But once again, we have no choice.
Our greatest challenge is to move on from a globalization based on competition to a model based on cooperation,
where protection will be more viable than destruction. We need to think of our planet as a single space, establishing
a pact of fairness between the North and South and a partnership between mankind and nature.
That is why we are gathered here, as world leaders. That is why the Paris Climate Conference is an exceptional event.
In just a few days, we will decide for several decades. The greatest danger is not that our target is too difficult and
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that we miss it. The greatest danger is that it is too easy, and that we hit it.
So we need to set the bar as high as possible so that we can, at the very least, come close to this ambition, for here,
in Paris, it is the planet's very future we are deciding on. Thank you./.
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2 - Paris Climate Conference - Speech by M. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Development, President of the Paris Climate Conference, at the meeting of heads of
state and government
President of the French Republic,
Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Ladies and gentlemen heads of state and government,
Ladies and gentlemen delegates,
Last week, knowing that I would be presiding over COP21, all the people I met asked me the same question: will the
Paris Climate Conference be a success?
The first condition for that success has been fulfilled thanks to you. Almost 150 of you, heads of state and
government, are gathered here despite the tragedy. And across the conference site, several thousand delegates and
civil society leaders are present, while millions more are active around the world. Through your mobilization, you
show that civilization and solidarity are stronger than barbarism. Thank you.
I am confident that the second condition for success will also be fulfilled. We wanted to bring together the world's
non-governmental stakeholders for the climate: cities, regions, businesses, non-governmental organizations, social
and economic forces, and individuals. In liaison with the UN, of which the Secretary-General has been fully mobilized,
the organization of this conference was built with this in mind: the decisions of the governments are crucial, but
those of non-governmental stakeholders are too. On this very spot, in the coming hours and days, important, concrete
commitments will be announced by hundreds of local government bodies and businesses. Powerful initiatives will be
launched, sometimes in the framework of public-private partnership, such as in the area of innovation for clean
technologies, solar energy and carbon pricing. All these actions are promising for the fight against global warming.
That fight is both a vital constraint and an essential opportunity for sustainable development that reconciles
economics, ethics and ecology.
The third condition for success is the most difficult: it is that we reach a universal, ambitious climate agreement at
the end of this conference, in just 11 days' time. This agreement will need to be differentiated, fair, sustainable,
dynamic, balanced and legally binding, and will need to ensure that by 2100 the global temperature does not rise by
2°C - or even 1.5°C - compared to the pre-industrial era because of greenhouse gas emissions. Each of these terms
refers to specific provisions on which we have been unable to conclude fully in the past. That is the challenge of the
discussions our ministers and negotiators will be having. We must not waste time in procedural debates. We need to
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handle the substantive issues and find solutions together. As President of COP21, I will have to listen to you all, be
impartial and act for an ambitious compromise.
There are several encouraging signs. Awareness that a universal agreement is indispensable has progressed a great
deal, spurred on by the fact that 2014 was the hottest year on record, and that 2015 will be worse. The work of
scientists has established unquestionably the diagnosis and the prognosis. The commitment of major spiritual and
religious leaders is powerful, and that of governments is generally moving in the right direction.
This is demonstrated by the number of national contributions by states - those INDCs. To date, 183 INDCs have been
published, representing more than 95% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yes, their ambition varies, but the very
fact that almost every country has carried out this step shows a remarkable progression and allows us to anticipate
the progress that will be necessary in the future. For be warned! The total of these contributions does divert us away
from the 4°C, 5°C or 6°C of warming predicted by the IPCC in unacceptable business-as-usual scenarios, but will not
be enough to ensure that we will stay within the 1.5°C or 2°C ceiling. This is why the periodical stock-taking and
ratcheting-up mechanisms, which I hope we will be able to include in our agreement, are crucial.
Lastly, I would like to underline one aspect: a global climate agreement is not just some requirement that the
developed countries seek to impose upon developing countries. No, it is a universal necessity which we need to
address together. Climate solidarity needs to move forward, as does the mobilization of financing and technologies
for the countries of the South. The Paris agreement also needs to be a pact for justice and against inequalities. As
president of this conference, my role will be to ensure that.
On all these points, we - my minister and negotiator colleagues and I - would like you to give the vital political
momentum needed on this first day, for your statements to be so strong that they make any outcome other than
success impossible!
Ladies and gentlemen heads of state and government,
At the end of 2016, France will hand over to our Moroccan friends, just as we have taken over from our Peruvian
friends, who have accomplished remarkable work. But this year, in 2015, matters are urgent. Indeed, greenhouse
gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, to the extent that, if no action is taken - or action is taken too late
- the situation will be irreversible. Here and now, there is particular momentum. It was to this conference that the
Durban COP in 2011 specifically entrusted the task of reaching an agreement. COP21 needs to be a tipping point, a
turning point. Paris will no doubt not resolve everything, but nothing can be resolved without it.
At this moment I have in mind, and at heart, the stories and the faces I have encountered in recent months while
preparing the conference. In Bangladesh, an old lady, tired and dignified, who has had to move nine times because of
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flooding, asked if COP21 would change that. In the far North, I have in mind the engineer who showed me the
devastating collapses of the ice pack and their consequences. In Cochabamba, a Bolivian peasant farmer cried over
the damage caused by failure to look after Mother Earth, hoping he could trust us. And in Africa, there was a young
woman - for women and the poor are the first victims - who described the spectacular drying up of Lake Chad and its
disastrous consequences. Their lives, and those of hundreds of millions of our brothers and sisters in humanity,
depend on our answers and our commitments here.
Ladies and gentlemen heads of state and government,
At the entrance to this room, you may have seen, up high, a vast photograph. It symbolizes what's at stake at our
conference. On the left of the photo is a tree that has lost all its leaves, replaced with plastic bags, a sort of skeleton
in an environment that has become inhuman. On the right of the photo, there is the portrait of a harmonious child
who awakens. And in the middle is a butterfly, bearing hope. That is where we are. Either we fail in Paris, and there
will be desolation. Or we will conclude an ambitious agreement to act against global warming, and a beautiful future
lies ahead.
I believe in success. I believe because I hope for it. I believe because all of us know that combating global warming is
more than just an environmental matter. It is an essential condition to provide the whole world with food and water,
to save biodiversity and protect health, to combat poverty and mass migration, to discourage war and foster peace,
and ultimately to give sustainable development and life a chance.
As 2015 comes to an end, it is France's responsibility, along with all of you, to help address two of the greatest
challenges of the century: combating terrorism and fighting climate change. Today's generations are urging us to act,
while tomorrow's generations will judge our action. We cannot hear them yet, but in a way they are already watching
us. The word “historic” is often a hyperbole. Today, it is not. Together, let us make the Paris Climate Conference the
historic success the world is waiting for./.
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