The President of the UN General Assembly, Mr Peter Thomson convened a high level Action Event on Climate Change and the Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development in collaboration with Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on 23 March.
The SDG Action Event consisted of a high level opening segment with the President of the UN General Assembly, the UN Secretary General and the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.
The first panel took stock of ongoing efforts and assessed the level of ambition needed to address climate change, including progress on ratification and implementation of the Paris Agreement, as well as climate actions by all stakeholders with Ms Ségolène Royal, Minister of Environment, Energy and Marine Affairs of France and chair of the COP22 climate conference, the Chargé d’Affaires of Fiji as incoming chair of COP23, the Executive Secretary of the Green Climate Fund Secretariat, and the Governor of Washington State. The Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gave a presentation about the alarming latest findings of climate science.
Participants welcomed the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement and stressed the mutual linkages of fighting climate change and achieving sustainable social and economic development. In parallel to the interventions at the plenary, two sessions dealt with the scaling up of Sustainable Development Goals in support of the climate objectives and achieving the 2020 targets along with the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement.
Deputy Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations, Mr Zoltán Varga emphasized that Hungary supported the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement by ratifying it as one of the first countries, in order to send a strong signal regarding the Governments’ commitment to address climate change. Now it’s time for implementation of both the Agreement and the SDGs to overcome the unprecedented challenges of sustainability and poverty reduction. Hungary’s Ministry of National Development started to incorporate the provisions of the Paris Agreement into the country’s climate strategy planning shortly after the ratification. Hungary supports innovative partnerships on climate adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development solutions. H.E. Mr. János Áder, President of Hungary has initiated a dialogue with multilateral development banks and other stakeholders to renew cooperation aimed at significantly increasing investment in the water sector.
The Action Event called for turning the challenges posed by climate change into opportunities to work towards low carbon and resilient economies. All participants encouraged investment in sustainable energy provision and mobilizing financing from a wide range of sources, including through innovative partnerships with private sector engagement.
To read the full national statement, please click here.
