Your Excellency, Sultan Hajiyev, Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives,
Ambassadors and colleagues. Welcome to the 172nd meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR).
Today, we will focus on preparations for the upcoming Open-Ended CPR (OECPR) and the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7). Before we get into those details, please allow me to update you on some key developments that have relevance for UNEA not just for this session, but for the long-term future of the assembly.
I will begin with the findings of UNEPs Emissions Gap and Adaptation Gap reports, as they are crucial to understanding where we are with respect to climate change and where we need to be.
While we have made some progress, the world remains off track to deliver commitments made under the Paris Agreement. 117 new Nationally Determined Contributions have been submitted by countries, but, as our data shows, we still need much greater ambition as global warming projections over this century are 2.3-2.5C. The multi-decadal average of global temperatures will exceed 1.5C, very likely within the next decade.
So, we still need rapid and unprecedented cuts to greenhouse gas emissions to make this overshoot minimal and temporary and to reduce an escalation of costly climate impacts. And as we hurtle towards greater climate damage, developing countries will need adaptation finance of US$310 to US$365 billion per year by 2035 12 times as much as current international public adaptation finance flows. The world is simply not prepared for what is coming.
UNEP took this message to COP30, called by many the implementation COP.
And here, please allow me to express my deep appreciation to the government and people of Brazil for hosting us at the gateway to the Amazon in Belem. I think it was a stroke of genius to place the COP in this complex setting, where the real world meets climate change. Where the pressures on the forests are real and tangible. Where Indigenous People voices are clear and loud. Where the rain comes not in drops, but in buckets. Where nature is lush and vibrant. And where heat and humidity are so high that you long for the blast of the air conditioner, come what may. Not a wealthy city. But a city light, vibrant, and alive leaning to green solutions and possibilities.
And while achieving progress in challenging geopolitical times is never guaranteed, Belm showed that the Paris Agreement is working. The talks delivered a call to triple adaptation finance by 2035, a Just Transition Mechanism, new dialogues on how trade can support climate-resilient economic transformation and more.
COP30 also reinforced growing global momentum, inside and outside the negotiating halls, to transition away from fossil fuels, as agreed at COP28. To halt deforestation including through the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which now stands at US$6.7 billion. And to pursue rapid, high-impact measures such as cutting methane emissions. The Action Agenda, the foundation to an inclusive COP that saw unprecedented Indigenous Peoples leadership from the Amazon and across the world, reinforced that this momentum is coming from all sources.
No one is saying that we are on track. But proven solutions do exist and are right in front of us. A pathway remains to meet our global commitments. Countries should see their new national climate plans as a baseline to build on, not a ceiling for ambition.
Keeping 1.5C within reach requires us to accelerate the era of implementation at an unprecedented rate, so that we can deliver what people deserve: affordable clean energy, good jobs, clean air, and a safer, more-resilient future for all. And we have to better finance, implement and prioritise adaptation efforts.
UNEP will support the drive to bring down emissions and adapt to climate change, including through new initiatives launched at COP30. For example, UNEP teamed up with the Brazilian Presidency to launch the Beat the Heat implementation drive, with over 150 cities signing up in support of efforts to adapt to climate change in urban environments and reduce emissions through passive, nature-based cooling.
Excellencies,
Another crucial issue is the environmental impact of armed conflict and climate-related risks to peace and security. Prior to the COP, I was invited by the Presidency of the UN Security Council, Sierra Leone, to brief the Council on this issue. I made the point that climate change exacerbates tensions and can, under some circumstances, contribute to conflicts. I also made the point that conflict-related environmental damage can push people into hunger, disease and displacement as we have seen in Gaza, the Sudan, the DRC, Ukraine and elsewhere. For Gaza, I hope that the recent ceasefire will be upheld by all parties and fully implemented so that it can turn into a long-lasting peace that will allow for a full recovery, including of the environment, backed by international support.
In this regard, in the Security Council, I called for all conflict-affected countries to be supported with tools to protect natural resources and the environment and provided three priorities that the Security Council could engage on: rebuilding national capacity for environmental management, facilitating and enabling work across sectors, and increasing investments in climate adaptation in conflict-affected countries.
During the high-level week of the 80th UN General Assembly (UNGA), we also saw climate change high on the agenda, as well as overwhelming support for the text of the first UN global political declaration on responding to noncommunicable diseases and mental health in an integrated manner. The declaration called for efforts to address the environmental determinants of health, which is central to UNEPs work from reducing air pollution to limiting exposure to hazardous substances and chemicals. And, of course, when we talk about mental health, we know that spending time in nature reduces stress and anxiety. UNEP clearly has a leading role to play in this space.
UN80 and UN reform were also welcomed at UNGA. As you know, UNEP is engaged in a reform process to strengthen environmental support for the three pillars of the UN charter peace, human rights and development and to address fragmentation of the UN environmental architecture.
We now have a UN80 Action Plan, which has been distributed to Member States. Work package 27 of this Plan, led by me and Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, is to undertake a thorough assessment of current arrangements and make proposals on possible structural changes and programme realignments on environmental issues.
UNEP has always sought to be cost efficient and responsive. You are aware that UNEP undertook a Functional Review in the context of UN80 to identify cost reductions and to create a more agile streamlined and forward-looking organization. This coming Thursday, I will provide a briefing to delegations on the key outcomes of the Functional Review. Last week, the Directors of the Corporate Services Division and the Policy and Programme Division also briefed you on the resource mobilization strategy and how UNEP could offer more-impactful and results-driven delivery.
The delivery of these necessary changes for the organizations future is possible only if UNEPs core fund, the Environment Fund, is adequately resourced. Let me therefore invite all Member States who have not yet contributed in 2025 to do so as soon as possible.
Excellencies, now let us turn to UNEA-7 itself.
The informal consultations on the draft resolutions and decisions, which began on 18 September, concluded on 14 November. This was an important milestone. Over the past weeks, proponents have introduced their draft resolutions and decisions, engaged in constructive question-and-answer sessions, submitted revised drafts, and completed a full first reading of most drafts with textual proposals.
We now have 19 draft decisions and resolutions. I am pleased to see that there are drafts on AI, on minerals and metals and on issues related to the hydrological cycle and many other areas, some of which were priority areas highlighted in the first part of my report to UNEA-7.
The progress made during the intersessional period is encouraging and significant. When we come to the OECPR, Member States will have advanced versions of the texts in hand, allowing negotiations to begin from a more informed and mature starting point. This is how we strengthen the OECPRs effectiveness and ensure that the process delivers outcomes that are both ambitious and implementable.
My thanks to the co-facilitators for their leadership and to all delegations for their active and constructive participation. I am also aware that the co-facilitators are already working diligently on cross-cutting issues work that will be essential to building convergence and addressing linkages in a coherent manner.
Let me also acknowledge the efforts invested last week, when the Bureau and co-facilitators undertook three intensive days of further familiarization with the UN processes and the co-facilitator role. This kind of preparation practical, focused and collaborative is exactly what enables the OECPR to function as the strong and solution-oriented body it is meant to be.
All of this gives me confidence. We are entering the OECPR well prepared, with solid groundwork laid and a clear sense of direction. UNEP will support you every step of the way as we move toward a successful OECPR and, ultimately, a strong UNEA-7.
Excellencies,
Let us also remember that this is moment for UNEA and the CPR to lean into the UN80 space. This is a moment for real leadership.
Just to reiterate some of what I said in the second part of my report to UNEA, we must now look hard at how to unleash UNEAs full potential as the worlds highest level global environmental forum and decision-making body. At how to make UNEA more focused, strategic and responsive with meaningful resolutions that Ministers and cabinets in capitals will back and implement, with strong technical and scientific support from UNEP and the trifecta of science-policy panels. And at how to ensure that UNEA and UNEP knit together the work of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and other bodies and initiatives, in a way that is consistent with the drive for united and efficient action under Work Package 27.
We are in a period of change. It is up to us all to shape this change so that the CPR, UNEA and UNEP emerge stronger. Sharper. Better able to support the UN system and Member States to stabilize the climate; restore nature, land and biodiversity; and decrease pollution and waste. And ultimately deliver a better future for the billions of people we serve across the world.
Thank you.
