opening this session is mr ugo astuto the european union's ambassador to india ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming him on stage [Music] he is european union's envoy to india and bhutan please welcome our keynote speaker hugo astuto [Music] all right well thank you very much uh honourable minister ladies and gentlemen it's a great pleasure to be here with you all um and congratulations to willian for organizing this very timely event before coming i've read on social media some comments why should we talk about climate i mean we have got we are emerging from an epidemic we are facing war why should we talk about climate well we do not have the luxury not to talk about climate as as a honourable minister just said and and the panel before me uh it's an existential challenge and we need to act fast and act now the the minister recalled the um the report published by the ipcc the latest report is another clarion call for the international community the climate change is already impacting natures and and people more more intensively more frequently and and over a wider geographical areas and than expected so we need to act fast all together as a minister said it's a global challenge which requires a multilateral global response we need to act consistently and cohesively at cop 26 prime minister modi announced a net zero target for india by 2070 and at a non-fossil energy capacity target of 500 gigabyte by 2030. but these are a very ambitious uh announcement i think they helped to keep the focus on the 1.5 celsius goal uh set in the paris agreement but we all know that cops 26 did not solve the the climate crisis but that was not to to be expected that was not the purpose of cop 26 in a way it had to bring the objectives of the paris agreement with sin rich and allow us to implement this deal and i think this it did so this the cop 26 sharpened our focus and gave us momentum um it does represent clear progress we are traveling in the right direction but it's important that now we follow up uh glasgow cop embraced the highest level of ambition of the paris agreement as our common target there is now no question about the fact we have a global consensus on the need to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees with the pledges made that cop 26 the 1.5 degrees celsius remains within rich but just and and the job is far from done we need to implement the properties made in glasgow rapidly and then aim higher it's a fact that even if all the announcements made in glasgow were fully realized well experts still estimate that we are on a path to between 1.8 celsius and 2.4 between 1.8 and 2.4 of warming so feed against this background it's essential that all parties agreed to revisit their commitments as necessary by the end of 2022. so we need to all to work together to put us firmly on the part of the 1.5 celsius warming i i think we all realize that climate action knows no quick fixes it will never be solved in a single conference uh but the climate one crisis is accelerating and and so should we uh collectively uh fighting this crisis requires a constant effort by all and it requires everybody's participation when it comes to the european union the eu policies are guided by the european green deal and and the recently adopted climate law which have made which has made our commitment legally binding so we are no longer talking about vague aspirations but by legally binding commitments we have to deliver a reduction of at least 55 percent in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and we have to reach climate neutrality by 2050. uh that's when it comes to our effort domestically but if we want to achieve the paris objectives we all need to work together collectively and i'm happy to say that we are working closely with the government of india to fight climate change and biodiversity laws particularly in the area of clean energy transition an area which will be crucial for the implementation of the paris agreement as well as for our energy security we with india we have established a detailed working program which includes cooperation on energy efficiency on renewables solar but also offshore wind and also green hydrogen greed and integration sustainable financing and just energy transition based on the principle that we should leave no one behind the european union has also progressively strengthened this cooperation with the two um flagship international initiative by the government of india the international solar alliance as a coalition for disaster resilient infrastructure the first focus on mitigation and the second on adaptation and let me also recall here that the european union and india have endorsed a sustainable and comprehensive connectivity partnership which will support sustainable digital transport and energy networks centered on on equity and inclusivity for the benefit of all but we want to create links not dependency and and this connectivity partnership um we will gain uh ever more relevance in the light of zu global gateway initiative which was launched in in december 2021 to boost investment in quality infrastructure we need to focus on on a green clean digital and resilient future globally this requires efforts on on mitigation and adaptation on issues such as international finance and here i'm glad to say that the european union as a group is today the first global provider of finance when it comes to development aid and when it comes specifically to green finance so um we believe we have been trying to walk the talk over the years uh before i close i would be remiss not to recall that as we speak um war is returned in europe due to due to the um unjustified russian aggression against ukraine cities are being shelled civilians are dying women and children are fleeing more than 2.7 million towards the safety of the eu border and and the russian invasion in ukraine has added additional reason as to why we have to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels energy prices which were already at record highs have been have been increasing further due to the invasion and and we this is a scenario which is likely to to continue for some time but but let me stop here um and and recall that the u.n india shares the same objective of implementing the paris agreement and ensuring an energy efficient and inclusive economy with affordable and clean energy that we all need what has to be done is very hard but it is a path that we must walk and we have to work it with speed and determination for for our sake but first and foremost for the sake of the future generations thank you very much [Music] thank you very much ambassador we agree climate change is an existential challenge and it will not be solved in one conference it requires constant effort as you put it cop 26 sharpened our focus is the most interesting way uh to to i think describe the progress made at that summit uh thank you very much [Music] [Music] you
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