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Delivered by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

20 July 2022

ES_ESCAP

Excellencies and distinguished participants,

It is my pleasure to join you at this global conference and speak on the synergies between the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We are meeting at a critical juncture as countries face the unfortunate circumstance of multiple crises. The world is slowly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and its profound socioeconomic impacts, as well as dealing with the persistent effects of climate change.

Hence, strengthening synergies is an urgent priority for the Asia-Pacific region, which is responsible for half of global greenhouse gas emissions and is home to six of the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate-related disasters.

However, our region lags in progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, with some Goals seeing regression with the Goal 13, climate action, the most notable in regression.

Meanwhile, during the pandemic, over 80 per cent of ESCAP member States announced commitments to carbon neutrality by mid-century, and many of the countries enhanced their 2030 target.

The aggregated level of the target is not sufficient to support the global target of 1.5 degrees. However, it is an important step, having the majority of countries recognize carbon neutrality as the direction of the economic transition.

Now it is speed and scale of action that we need to mobilize at regional and global levels through strengthened synergies with the 2030 Agenda.

First, making rapid progress in Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy by scaling up renewables in the national energy mix and regional power interconnection and improving energy efficiency to reduce the energy intensity of the economy.

Second, linking climate action with Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth and Goal 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure to diversify the economy, particularly fossil fuel-dependent economies, develop decent work for just transition and expand climate-smart trade.  

Third, strengthening national action on Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production to reduce and phase out fossil fuel subsidies, amounting to over 200 billion dollars per year in Asia and the Pacific.  

Fourth, harnessing Goal 14 on life below water and Goal 15 on life on land through ocean-based and nature-based solutions, which are key to achieving carbon neutrality and saving time until the full deployment of zero-carbon technologies.

Excellencies and distinguished participants,

On this pathway, it is critical to scale up global and multilateral partnerships under Goal 17. We look forward to enhancing our partnerships for climate action as we navigate out of the crises and refocus on progress in the 2030 Agenda.

We stand ready to support the efforts, and I wish all of you a fruitful conference.

Thank you very much.

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