Mr. Julius Georg Luy
It is my pleasure to
welcome you to the 45th Cairo Climate Talks panel discussion, the very first in
2017. I wish you and our climate all the best for this year. 2017 is a special
year for GER-EGY Science Cooperation, since it marks the 10th anniversary of the
GER-EGY Science Year of 2007
That year paved the way for several bilateral
agreements promoting the exchange of students and researchers as well as joint
research projects between both our countriesOf course, GER-EGY
science cooperation dates back much longer than this and the Embassy is looking
forward to another productive GER-EGY science decade!
The CairoClimateTalks
as a series of monthly events are a great example of our trustful partnership. They
were launched in 2011 by the German Embassy Cairo in close cooperation with the
Ministry of Environment and several German organizations, among them the DAAD
and the GIZ
Tonight’s CCT focuses
on the outcomes of the recent 22nd session of the Conference of the
Parties in Marrakech
The COP’22 is also
referred to as the “Action and Implementation” COP as it took place only a few
days after the Paris Agreement had entered into force and thus was thought to
explore how the agreement could be put into practice. Accordingly, questions of
mitigation and adaptation, financing, transparency and capacity building were
being discussed
Germany and Egypt
both took on an active role at the COP’22. As first country to present a long term
strategy, Germany introduced its Climate Action Plan 2050, which was taken with
great interest
The Action Plan formulates
mission statements for 2050 for systematically decarbonising all key areas –
energy, buildings, transport, industry, commerce, trade and services,
agriculture, forestry and waste management – and develops milestones and operative
measures for the crucial 2030 landmark
Besides, Germany
announced the launch of the global NDC Partnership, which had been put forward
by our Federal Ministry for the Environment as well as our Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development. The global NDC Partnership aims to support
developing and industrializing countries financially and through know how with
implementing their National Climate Contributions
Egypt for its part
successfully launched phase II of the Africa Adaptation Initiative and made
important progress in bringing the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative forward.
Congratulations!
The Paris Agreement
entering into force less than one year after being adopted at the COP’21
highlights the importance given to climate change adaptation and mitigation by
country leaders all over the world
To this day, 125
parties of 197 parties to the convention have ratified the agreement. Together
they account for more than 80% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. We
are confident that our Egyptian partners follow their ratification process with
some emphasis. Like any other international agreement the convention can
only be effective if it builds on strong and
coherent national climate
policies
However, Climate
change does not stop at national borders and neither should our actions. In Paris country leaders have shown that they are
willing to join forces. In Marrakech they have reaffirmed their commitment
notwithstanding the recent developments in the US. Now it is a common responsibility of politics, business and
civil society to make sure that the agreement does not remain a mere lip
service
Ladies and Gentlemen
Climate change is one
of the most severe challenges our world is facing today
The global average
temperature has already increased by approximately 1 °C compared with the
pre-industrial level.Egypt and the other
countries in the region will be among the most affected by global warming. But
climate change has entered Germany, too. The number of hot days, with peak
daily temperatures of 30 °C or higher, has increased significantly since the 1970s
What might sound
normal for most of you here in this room, is indeed a serious development in countries,
which haven’t really become used yet to be surrounded by the desert or to
sustain extreme heat waves or biblical heavy rain falls and inundations
At tonight’s CCT,
political and economic decision makers, policy consultants, scientists and
civil society representatives will introduce
their ideas for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in general and
explore possible scenarios for EGY in particular
I am pleased that they are with
us tonight and I am looking forward to an informative evening. An evening with vivid
and I hope multilayered, engaged discussions about a development which will shape
– for a long time even in earth history - basic living conditions of humanity and
nature as a whole
Thank
you very much
