Statement by Senegal, Chair of LDC Group at the Joint COP27, CMP17,  CMA4, SBSTA57 and SBI57 plenary meeting for statements

6 November 2022

Senegal has the privilege of delivering this statement on behalf of the 46 Least Developed Countries.

I’d like to preface my remarks by thanking, on behalf of our group, the Arab Republic of Egypt, for its hospitality and congratulate them for the very successful holding of COP27.

At the outset, I would like also, President, to align this statement with the statement delivered on behalf of the G77 and China, that delivered on behalf of the African Group, and that delivered on behalf of AOSIS.

President,

The most recent report of the IPCC has once again sounded the alarm on the devastating consequences of global warming, felt particularly by LDCs. There is now a pressing need to simultaneously curb the growth in global emissions and adapt ourselves to living on a warming planet.

Three decades after the establishment of the UNFCCC greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow at pace. Limiting global warming to 1.5°C remains possible, nonetheless, but we need to take rapid steps to transform society and to take steps to significantly reduce global warming and the emission of greenhouse gases in order to take 1.5 alive. This decade of action is critical.

Climate Finance

The needs of climate finance continue to increase, but the financing available falls woefully short of actual needs. The delivery of the commitment of $100 billion a year by 2020 and doubling adaptation finance by 2025 is critical. As we continue deliberations on the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, we reiterate the importance for the new goal to reflect the real needs of developing countries to leapfrog to low-carbon climate resilient development pathways, and address loss and damage. For our countries, in particular, it is critical that climate finance is delivered as grants, especially for adaptation.

Loss and Damage

We need to move to resilient and low-carbon economies but we also need to turn our attention to loss and damage and the financing thereof. We are already seeing loss and damage as a result of climate change. We have gone as far down the road of adaptation as we can and it is clear also that loss and damage will continue to increase as the global warming increases. We need additional financing, additional support, to deal with this sizeable loss and damage with which we are already confronted as a result of climate change. We cannot simply focus on adaptation. We need to go further than that and deal with the elephant in the room – loss and damage.

We would like to convey our gratitude to all who are seeking understanding, who have been willing to begin discussion on the modalities for funding loss and damage, under both the COP and the CMA, with a focus on addressing loss and damage, where we will adopt, no later than 2024, a conclusive decision on the establishment of funding arrangements for addressing loss and damage. Our countries are already shouldering the immense costs of climate change, which will only continue to rise.

We need also to breath life into the Santiago Network, which will require the establishment of an Advisory Board and an independent secretariat, and will ensure that it has its own resources so that it can discharge its mandate – that’s vital.

Adaptation

Issues related to adaptation and loss and damage are a priority, but only a small slice of the finance pie is currently earmarked for adaptation and we need to remedy that situation. We hope that we will have robust outcomes when it comes to adaptation thanks to COP27, particularly on the GGA drawing key common elements from the single annual report and informing the second year of work under the Glasgow Sharm El Sheikh work programme.

We do want to sound the alarm about the lack of progress that has been made in National Adaptation Plans, as we heard in the most recent meetings of the subsidiary bodies. We need to speed up delivery of those programs, which of course will rely on pools of financing made available to least developed countries.

Mitigation

On mitigation, the recent IPCC report made crystal clear the need for immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors – we know that greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 and be halved by 2030, and that existing NDCs are far off this pathway.

We must advance the establishment of the Mitigation Work Programme to Urgently Scale up Mitigation Ambition and Implementation based on the Glasgow Climate Pact for adoption by CMA4 this year. The work programme should set a calendar of activities and clear milestones to deliver that helps to achieve emission reduction in line with 1.5°C pathways within this critical decade, starting from 2023 with the annual ambition raising mechanism. We must ensure that developed countries and major emitters revisit and strengthen 2030 targets in their NDCs in line with limiting warming to 1.5C. Developed countries, who have greater capabilities, must take the lead. G20 countries, together responsible for 80% of global emissions, have a critical role to play.

The mitigation work programme must also enable effective implementation of mitigation actions through the mobilization of adequate support, particularly finance for developing countries.

Here in Sharm El-Sheikh, we look forward to setting out and delivering a concrete calendar of activities with clear milestones for the next two years and with mid-term review design activities for the remaining period of 2030.

The Global Stocktake

On the Global Stocktake, we look forward to participating in the technical dialogues. Global Stocktake remains key for assessing progress and taking stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement., including action and support for loss and damage.

Here in Sharm El Sheikh, we must also allocate sufficient time to discuss the results of the workshops, and the outputs of the technical assessment component, with the view towards further developing the elements for the consideration of outputs component of the Global Stocktake.

Before we leave Sharm El Sheikh, we must have a clear plan of activities for next year that should also include holding of two intersessional workshops at technical and political level for the consideration of outputs component.

Article 6

For Article 6, we would like the special circumstances of LDCs to be recognised and operationalise across the implementation of Article 6 provisions. The capacity building programme must be operationalised immediately, since LDCs will need support to participate in Article 6, and cannot be left behind in this process.

Unresolved issues related to the application of corresponding adjustments, criteria for removals, baselines and methodologies, and accounting and transparency must be further regulated to ensure the mechanisms we have developed maintain environmental integrity, and lead to real global emissions reductions – not just on paper but, critically, in the atmosphere.

Transparency

On transparency, we need a decision at COP27 that ensures any information that has been voluntarily provided in biannual transparency reports on adaptation and loss and damage is included in the review process; we must ensure that the development of reporting tools and resources take the needs of LDCs into account; and we must have clarity on how developed countries will provide financial and technical support for building our countries’ capacities for reporting under the Paris Agreement.

Agriculture

With regard to work in the sphere of agriculture, we are eagerly awaiting concrete decisions to be taken to ensure the implementation of strengthened action to be taken in the domain of agriculture.

On items related to Koronovia Joint work on agriculture, technology development and transfer, capacity building, and gender and climate change, given the importance of these items for our group, we look forward to concrete decisions to ensure implementation of enhanced action in each of each of these items.

Technology, Development and Transfer & Capacity Building

LDCs believe that urgent delivery of requisite technologies and related capacity building needs are essential and indispensable in achieving the global temperature goal of limiting the Average temperature rise to less than 1.5 degrees centigrade, and in effectively implementing adaptation, mitigation, NDCs and NAPs.

Technology development and transfer is key for us. LDCs ask for adequate support to the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism, including its National Designated Entities, to enable them to fulfil their respective mandates, Effective implementation of the results of the technology needs assessment and better continuation of strengthened collaboration between the technology mechanism and the financial mechanism within and outside the UNFCCC.

Capacity-building is crucial for all developing countries but especially for LDCs. There is a need to strengthen the capacity of our countries to implement adaptation and mitigation plans, and upscaling financing of concrete capacity building initiatives. LDCs are for enhancement access for capacity building support as it relates to the Paris Committee on Capacity Building and in particular on capacity building and resources for implementation of Article 6.

President,

Over the next two days of the high level segment we will all hear from world leaders. We hope to hear them commit to leading the combat against the climate crisis, but to do so tangibly and pragmatically. It is not the time for fine words. We need national policies, plans and programs with tangible deliverables, and we need concrete action to be taken that will bring about transformation. The time is nigh, as you yourself have said and others have said as well.

The LDC Group will be committed to work constructively with other groups and partners in order to guarantee outcomes for our people that are positive, our people of course being vulnerable to climate change and its devastating impacts.

Thank you very much for your kind attention.