Toespraak staatssecretaris Dijksma bij de UN Climate Change Conference 'COP22'

Toespraak | 16-11-2016

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

December 12, 2015, 7:26 PM. I remember exactly where I was and what I did at that moment:  I was in Paris and, like many of you, I was cheering and applauding. At that moment, we all agreed on a historic global, legally binding agreement, applicable to all.

And what a year it has been since! Almost all of us signed the Paris Agreement in April. And now it has entered into force, within a record breaking timeframe of less than a year.

That is a fantastic global achievement.

And global action against climate change reached new highpoints after Paris: in October the aviation sector finally agreed in Montreal to address its emissions. And just 1 month ago we reached a landmark agreement in Kigali on phasing out HFC’s under the Montreal Protocol.  

Paris, Montreal and Kigali gave us good agreements. And we reached these agreements by working together towards a common goal! This gives people hope, optimism and positive energy, through all levels of society! To 'Bring Paris Home', I organised an energizing National Climate Summit.
Companies, cities, citizens; they were all there.

They want to bring real change, bring global warming to a halt and make their own effort in combating climate change.

The Global Climate Action Agenda here in Marrakesh shows that this positive vibe is a global vibe: that good, because action is needed. But there are also social concerns about the impact of the transition we have to make. People working in the fossil industry, in agriculture, in the old economy, worry about their future, their jobs.

The fundamental economic and societal transition that we have to make can only succeed if we do not leave these people behind. National planning should include action for sustainable growth and sustainable jobs for those people affected by this transition!

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, we will need to continue to show leadership to the world. Again!

The Netherlands will take up the challenge to accelerate climate adaptation actions. Together with UN Environment we are exploring the launch of a Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation in 2017, with a broad network of international partners.

We are also aiming at mobilizing 660 million Euros in climate finance in 2017, up from 440 million in 2015. And we strive to balance that between mitigation and adaptation action.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Carbon pricing and transparency of action are important conditions for credible and robust markets. I am therefore happy to make three other modest announcements.

Firstly I will make a contribution of 1 million Euros to the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency.

Secondly, I contributed 3.9 million euros to the World Bank to support them in their work on promoting carbon pricing systems.

And thirdly, I have decided that we will not use or sell our remaining Clean Development Mechanism credits before 2020, we will cancel those credits, equal to almost four million tonnes of carbon.

To conclude, I call on you to give Paris a more than fitting follow up. Here in Marrakesh, and at home.

Let's make a difference again. Let's bring Paris into Practice. For a just transition and a better world for everyone!