Dear Emmanuel
Your Majesty,
Fellow leaders,
Dear Fatih,
It has been two years since COP26. There, we agreed for the first time, as a global community, to accelerate the phase down of coal. But today, the persistence of coal in the global energy mix is still our number one challenge. This is why I am glad to be here for the launch of the 'Coal Transition Accelerator'. We know one thing for sure. This transition must be faster, if we want to reach the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement. And it must also be fair for all.
We therefore have to identify the right policy solutions to phasing out coal. And the right funding streams to achieve that. In the past years, we already made huge progress to make public funding move away from polluting to clean energy sources. This must also apply to private funding. That is why I welcome in particular the Coal Transition Accelerator's focus on private finance.
What we promote globally, we practice domestically. We show it can be done. In the EU, 10 of our Member States are already coal free. 10 more will phase out coal by 2030. Most of the remaining 7 European Member States will follow close behind.
The path we have chosen requires determination and political stamina. Coal has been part of Europe's history. It created jobs for many regions. At the same time, we have understood that this coal-based economy has to come to an end. That is why we prepare for a transition that is irreversible. To make it fair and just, we are investing 55 billion euros. The bulk of this investment will go to our coal intensive regions. For new skills and new jobs. For industrial modernisation. Take the Ida-Viru region of Estonia. This region's economy was entirely focused on the extraction of oil shale. Now it embraces the clean tech revolution. With support from the EU the region invested in a factory to produce magnets used in wind turbines. The wind-energy sector is booming around the globe. And the communities of the Ida-Viru region are benefitting from the new markets.
But we also know that this has to be a global movement. It requires partnership. This is why we developed a just energy transition partnership with Vietnam. Europe is glad to contribute to Vietnam's green investment plan. Because every new partner that moves to a coal-free future is win for our all of us. This is also why Europe invests massively in clean energy infrastructure, with our 300 billion euro Global Gateway program. We are investing in wind- and solar power generation in Africa, and in energy cooperation more generally. More than 20 billion euro in Africa alone. We are investing in the green energy transition of Bangladesh. And we are investing in waterpower in Kazahstan. One of the key advantages of Global Gateway is that we are bringing the private sector on board. We use financial instruments to de-risk and incentivise private investment. That is the innovative approach that not only attracts private capital but also allows to scale and speed up. When it comes to stopping global warming, size and speed of our common efforts matter.
Congratulations again on the launch of this initiative. We are fully behind it. We are focused on our goal. And that is a future without coal.
