COP27 High-Level Ministerial Roundtable on Pre-2030 Ambition - Ms Grace Fu

Speech by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, at the COP27 High-Level Ministerial Roundtable on Pre-2030 Ambition

Opening

1 Colleagues. We cannot afford to end COP-27 – an implementation COP – without a credible plan to show that we are working hard to keep 1.5°C within reach.

2 So, what is key to achieving our desired outcomes as a global community? I have three “As” to suggest.

3 First, we need to raise Ambition.
a. To date, only 32 Parties have submitted updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Just 11 have submitted new or updated long-term low emissions development strategies (LEDS) in response to the Glasgow Climate Pact.
b. We should reiterate the request on Parties, that have not done so to revisit and strengthen our 2030 NDC, to align with the Paris temperature goal, and to submit long-term low emissions development strategies by the end of next year.
c. We should also make a call for Parties achieve peaking of emissions as soon as possible, and to announce when they expect to do so, if they have not done so.

4 Second, we need concrete Actions.
a. It is not sufficient for Parties to just make pledges. These pledges would need to be backed by concrete policies and measures.
b. We need to facilitate Actions from all relevant actors. The Mitigation Work Programme must involve all relevant Actors, notably the private sector, multilateral development banks and international financial institutions, civil society, etc., in our efforts to accelerate the transition to a net-zero world.

5 Third, we need to develop Alternative (and viable) pathways.
a. One key lesson we can learn from the energy crisis is the need to manage the net-zero transition well.
b. This will entail: (i) stepping up collaborations and investments in low-emissions solutions such as hydrogen and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS); (ii) facilitating flows of renewable energy to accelerate renewable energy development and regional decarbonisation; and (iii) strengthening ecosystem and supply chains for these clean energy solutions.
c. The Mitigation Work Programme must facilitate the necessary collaborations and actions from all relevant actors, notably the private sector and academia, to not only work on solutions but to work with the private sector to pool demand and drive costs down to make these solutions commercially viable and scalable.

Closing Remarks

6 Chair, let me conclude by stressing that the Mitigation Work Programme must not be just another “talk shop”.
a. Frankly, I am a little concerned that the proposed modalities under the Mitigation Work Programme are largely premised on convening a series of technical or policy workshops on topics to be decided annually.
b. The Mitigation Work Programme must ultimately facilitate more ambition and action in key sectoral and thematic areas to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach.
c. The annual report or outputs of the Mitigation Work Programme need to be “action-oriented”. The programme ought to identify some key findings and/or concrete policy recommendations of best practices under the different thematic or sectoral areas for the consideration of all Parties in a nationally determined manner.
d. This annual report should be submitted in time for the annual Ministerial roundtable so that we the Ministers can review its key findings and give the necessary political guidance for the CMA. We see the technical work under the Mitigation Work Programme and the political processes of High-level Ministerial Roundtable and the CMA working in a mutually reinforcing loop to drive action and ambition.

7 I hope the above suggestions will help advance our deliberations on this very important issue of mitigation ambition.