EU Statement – UN General Assembly: Our Common Agenda, Protecting our planet and being prepared for the future
Thank you, Mr Chair, Under-Secretary-General.
I’m delivering this statement on behalf of the EU and its MS.
North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, and Liechtenstein, align themselves with this statement.
At the outset, let me express the EU and its MS’ full solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia's military aggression, which grossly violates international law and the UN Charter, and undermines international security and stability. We are deeply alarmed and horrified by the human impact of the ongoing military aggression and of the indiscriminate attacks, killing innocent civilians, including children and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. We deplore this senseless loss of life. Protection of civilians in line with international law must remain an utmost priority.
Mr Chair, colleagues, despite this enormous tragedy, we must not forget the other pressing issues that deserve our close attention, such as the topics for discussion today and tomorrow.
First, the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution”. They are of existential nature for people and the planet and must be dealt with the strongest sense of urgency – they jeopardize sustainable development, the Agenda 2030, deepen existing vulnerabilities, undermine human rights and global peace.
Just this week, the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of the irreversible impacts of global warming, noting that climate change could soon overwhelm our and nature’s ability to adapt - unless we rapidly lower emissions.
We must collectively follow up and fully implement the commitments from Glasgow and ensure higher ambition at the next COP in Egypt. We fully agree with the Secretary-General that countries need to present more ambitious climate plans for 2030 and credible targets and plans for 2050. We must align all financial flows with the goal of reaching net-zero around mid-century and strike a balance between climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. We welcome the SG’s new high-level expert group on net-zero commitments from non-state actors.
The EU also shares the SG’s strong concern about fossil fuel subsidies and his appeal for carbon pricing. Collectively, we have to enhance access to climate finance and cut red tape to address the needs of the most vulnerable, in particular the LDCs and SIDS. The EU is at the forefront of this effort.
Climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, but the conservation and restoration of ecosystems provide essential solutions for our mitigation and adaptation efforts. We need an ambitious and game-changing post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework at COP15 in Kunming, building on the advances we had at COP26. The EU will double its funding for biodiversity to support the most vulnerable countries. Collectively, we must put nature on a path to recovery and align all policies and financial flows with biodiversity objectives. This also means using existing resources more efficiently, and shifting towards circular production and consumption cycles. We are proud partners of the African Circular Economy Alliance and support similar transitions in 24 Asian countries.
We also need to shift in our approach of subsidizing activities that damage the environment to supporting those that sustain and enrich it. The private sector plays a key role in embedding sustainability into corporate governance.
The link between climate and sustainable food systems needs to be given more attention in ‘Our Common Agenda’. Global food system transformation can contribute to achieving climate neutrality, preserving biodiversity, contributing to food security and helping achieve the SDGs. We should translate the momentum from the Food Systems Summit into concrete actions, and follow-up across the UN.
Oceans can be a source of renewable energy, low emission food and innovation and are essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda in full. 2022 is a crucial year for the oceans with 3 key milestones: the One Ocean Summit in France, the ‘Our Ocean’ Conference in Palau and the UN Ocean Conference in Portugal. Concluding BBNJ negotiations this year will send a strong signal towards strengthening this Global Commons.
In addition, we need a legally binding global agreement to fight plastic pollution. In this regard, we commend yesterday’s adoption of a resolution on this matter at the 5th Session of the UN Environment Assembly. We must also step up to meet water-related global goals and targets, including at the UN 2023 Water Conference.
The EU welcomes the recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right by the Human Rights Council and is ready to progress towards its universal recognition. The Stockholm+50 conference should be the opportunity to discuss and - as stated by the SG - “redefine humankind’s relationship with nature”.
Climate also has close linkages with other areas. There is the climate and security nexus. We regret that despite the strong support for the Security Council Resolution on climate and security, tabled by Ireland and Niger last December, the text failed to pass because of a veto. That is no reason to give up!
Climate change and environmental degradation reinforce disaster risks, endanger food and water security and in turn are a major driver of humanitarian needs and displacements. 30 million people were uprooted in 2020 as a result of the climate crisis and environmental disasters. We therefore strongly support the Secretary-General’s focus on environmental displacements.
We must also better connect the climate, biodiversity and health agendas if we want to achieve a green, healthy and resilient recovery. We have a unique opportunity to go to the heart of prevention – through One Health. This includes making new global commitments on antimicrobial resistance, which is already driving a “silent pandemic”. We must also promote a more prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials in animals.
The most pressing challenge for global health is to end the Covid19 pandemic. We are nowhere near reaching WHO’s target of vaccinating 70% of the world’s population this year. In Africa, only one in ten has been fully vaccinated.
The EU support the SG’s call for vaccine equity, and we are doing our part. First, we will continue sharing vaccines where most needed, most notably with low-and middle-income countries, with the objective of delivering 700 million doses by mid this year, mainly through Covax, but also bilaterally.
Secondly, we have funded the ACT-Accelerator, including the COVAX facility, with 5 billion Euros so far. And thirdly, we are investing heavily in assisting countries build up their own regional capacities - a cornerstone of global public health. Earlier this month, the EU - together with BioNTech - launched the ‘vaccine equity for Africa’ project, as part of which we will build two vaccine factories in Rwanda and Senegal. The vaccines produced there will benefit African countries and will be sold at not-for-profit prices. What is revolutionary is that the factories can be adjusted within weeks to produce different kind of vaccines to also fight other diseases, like malaria and tuberculosis. Team Europe has committed 1 billion Euros towards strengthening regulatory frameworks and to transferring skills and know-how.
Looking ahead, a new and strengthened multilateral framework – with a central role for WHO, based on a more robust mandate and adequate and predictable funding - is essential for our global health architecture. We welcome the World Health Assembly's decision to start negotiations towards a legally-binding convention, agreement or other international instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. We need to overcome the “panic, then neglect cycle”.
Better preparedness expands beyond pandemics though. The EU welcomes the proposal for an Emergency Platform as an opportunity to improve our collective approach to crisis management. We stand ready to engage on the Terms of Reference, which should clarify modalities and criteria for its activation, funding and financing, with a view to ensure enhanced synergies and greater coherence in addressing global emergencies, including sudden and protracted humanitarian crises. Through the Emergency Response Coordination Centre as operational hub, the EU already has a 24/7 platform for mobilising, facilitating and coordinating our emergency crisis response. Lately, we also launched work on a new European Humanitarian Response Capacity. We would be happy to share our expertise in this regard
Strengthening our foresight capacities with a view to better anticipating global trends and assess their potential implications and opportunities for strategic planning and policy-making, is another essential element for a UN 2.0. The EU welcomes the proposals for a “Futures Lab” and a Strategic Foresight and Global Risk Report. The European Commission is currently preparing its 2nd annual Strategic Foresight Report, which will focus on the digital and green transitions. Previous reports have looked at pressure on democracy. We see the erosion of international law as we speak. These are the kind of topics we would also like to see addressed at the UN level. Let us think out of the box.
Lastly, we strongly support the attention given to future generations. The proposal for a Special Envoy for Future Generations deserves positive consideration as he or she could play a key role in preparing the proposed ‘Declaration on Future Generations’ as one of the deliverables for next year’s ‘Summit of the Future. All these proposals are closely linked, and deserve a thorough discussion on how they would interrelate with other structures, such as the UN Youth Office, with the view to create synergies and deliver tangible results.
The Summit of the Future could be the next UN landmark summit and we would like to see a visionary and ambitious outcome, containing commitments on how to tackle the biggest challenges of our time. To this end, we look forward to the proposals from the High-Level Advisory Board. The EU and its Member States stand ready to engage constructively on all these proposals and share our experiences, both on the EU level, such as with the “Ministers for the Future”, who meet annually to agree the EU’s strategic foresight agenda, and national level, where parliaments have started moving towards anchoring Global public goods and Global Common such as the environment or public health in their constitutions - as a way to assert rights to future generations and ensure intra-generational solidarity.
I thank you.