UN Day - Climate emergency: A wake up call

Dear Prime Minister, your Excellencies, my fellow colleagues and friends of the United Nations,

Let me start with a sincere congratulation to you Mr. Prime Minister and to the people of Montenegro on the 15th anniversary of your country’s membership to the United Nations. In this short but certainly intensive period, your country has demonstrated a proactive role and strong commitments to the core values of the United Nations.

The 15th anniversary of Montenegrin devoted UN membership also coincides with Montenegro’s important 30th anniversary of declaring itself as an ecologic state. Nothing speaks more about the strength of such commitment than Montenegro’s determination to embed it into the heart of its Constitution.

When Montenegro chose to continue its development on a green path, 30 years ago, not many people had expected that, this green path would become the only reasonable way forward for all.

Only 3 decades later, the alarm bells of climate change are deafening, with evidence impossible to ignore: temperatures are reaching new highs; biodiversity is reaching new lows; oceans are warming, acidifying, and choking with plastic waste. Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are strangling our planet and putting billions of people at immediate and long-term risk, with many of the changes becoming irreversible. Each year we see extreme weather and climate disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. And this summer, here in Montenegro was no exception with record number of forest fires.

Without any doubt, climate change is the greatest challenge humankind has ever faced. Science warns us that the climate crisis is now, and it is a “code red” for humanity.

Five years ago, Paris Agreement paved for humankind a clear way out of this crisis, pointing that limiting the temperature rise under the 1.5°C in this century is key. Unfortunately, scientists also warn that we are already close to reaching that threshold, which would mean reaching a point of no return.

In order to prevent this from happening, the world needs to join forces around three critical aspects:

• First, Mitigation – keep the 1.5°C goal within reach, by securing greater ambition from national governments and more net-zero commitments.
• Secondly, Adaptation – to increase investment into adaptation from current 21% to at least 50% of the overall international climate finance.
• Thirdly, the Financing – to reach an agreement on a delivery plan for the $100 billion, to improve access to financing and to progress on carbon markets.

The responsibility for this ambitious agenda lays with all of us, but primely with the national governments. It is the national leaders who bear responsibility for taking urgent steps to reduce emissions, mobilize funding, and boost resilience, and for delivering on the Paris Agreement to keep 1.5°C within reach.

In this regard, national governments can and should greatly rely on United Nations to be a solid partner, convener and honest broker, who facilitates multilateral dialogue for national leaders to deliver successful climate action in par with the Paris Agreement.

That is exactly what the UN is doing, as we speak. We have convened world leaders, top experts and scientists, activists as well as corporate leaders to the Climate Conference – taking place now in Glasgow, for all of them to join forces for climate action. The COP26 must be a turning point that delivers a clear roadmap to keep 1.5°C within reach.

The dedication of the Government of Montenegro to these goals is evident in its recent commitment to cut Green House Gas emissions by 35% by 2030. I’m pleased that the ambition of this commitment is backed by the evidence and data, collection of which was supported by UNDP through its Climate Promise initiative. However, we believe, there is a potential to significantly reduce emissions even further, in the sectors of energy, transportation, and industry.

Montenegro, like many low Green House Emitting countries, has a low contribution to the rising global temperatures. Despite that, it is, unfortunately, bound to face the consequences of climate change through its undesirable domino effect on human well-being, health, environment and economy. That is why we must turn our attention equally to adaptation and building resilience to future impacts of human-and-nature-induced hazards.

If we think of Montenegro in 30 years from now, it seems that the country is at a crossroad in defining its future development, choosing between economic recovery perpetuating old business models or progressively transition towards driving action and investments into smart, low carbon economy and businesses, with leaving no one behind as the key guiding principles in this transformation.

Most of the action in climate response is to take place in the economic sectors and the experience tells us that climate-smart investments outweigh the upfront costs. Montenegro’s National Climate Adaptation Plan, supported by UNDP with Global Climate Fund financing, is an opportunity to set the baseline for making smart adaptation investments.

Another huge potential in adaptation and mitigation to climate crisis lies with young people. Recent UNDP Survey illustrates that young people in Montenegro have strong ambitions to do their part and such ambitions must be met by opportunities. Three out of four respondents are ready to change their living habits, including walking every day, reducing waste, recycle and rationalizing further use of water and electricity.

Other members of UN family also support Montenegro in its climate response. Our sister agency UNOPS, which supports small and medium-sized enterprises in cooperation with local authorities, ensures that neither side stay ignorant of environmental protection, helping them to understand that greening is not just about solar panels. Along with education, infrastructure, and, of course - culture, policy frameworks remain critical drivers of turning green.

Investments in health are no less important. As we have painfully learned from the COVID crisis, we need to adapt to orient towards long-term, strategic investments in our futures. WHO tells us that strategic investments in integrated public health and primary healthcare systems, as well as mature digital systems, are necessary to be able to deliver on the promise of safe, effective, and equitable health services for a post-COVID-19 era.

UNHCR warns us that the effects of climate change are increasing hardship on people who are already among the world’s most vulnerable, including refugees. Drought and extreme weather will certainly drive up competition for dwindling resources on a global scale and have a tremendous impact on forced displacement, not only on a global scale but will certainly have strong implications for our region and for Montenegro.

And what about the people of tomorrow, who are the children of today? The climate crisis is, no doubt, a child rights crisis. Every child on the planet is affected by it even though no child is responsible for raising global temperatures! 

Recent UNICEF’s analysis of climate risk from a child’s perspective shows that nearly every child in the world is at risk from at least one of climate and environmental hazards like flooding, cyclones, vector-borne diseases, lead pollution, heat waves and water scarcity.

Air pollution is the biggest threat as one billion children are estimated to be highly exposed to exceedingly dangerous levels of air pollution. Through multiple U-Report polls, adolescents and youth in Montenegro have flagged climate change and environmental protection as one of the top three issues they felt most strongly about. In the coming period, UNICEF will support Montenegro’s children and adolescents’ involvement on air pollution and other climate change issues in the country.

So, to conclude my intervention this morning, these that we have heard, are just some examples, and indicators that countries need to realize that the old, carbon-burning model of development is a death sentence for their economies and our planet. We need decarbonization now, across every sector in every country. We need to shift subsidies from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and tax pollution much more. We need to put a real price on carbon, and channel that back towards resilient infrastructures and sustainable jobs.

And finally, The United Nations was founded 76 years ago to build consensus for action against the greatest threats facing humanity.  But we have never faced a crisis like this one – a truly existential crisis which, if not addressed properly, threatens the future of mankind. Like never before, the world needs solidarity and truly joint action -now.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, based on a very fruitful partnership with Montenegro in the last 15 years and knowing this country’s firm orientation on the sustainable path, I am more than convinced that the UN can count on Montenegro’s fullest commitment to this unique and existential goal, with hopes that the necessary economic recovery post-Covid will be done in such a sustainable way that in places the environment at the very center of its economic growth.

Thank you.