YouSaid · the spoken record

Emmanuel Macron

lines on the record: 205
first: 2017-09-24
most recent: 2022-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“The digital space is also a common good — a unique, open and trusted common good, which requires a new type of governance so that it is not captured, pirated and exploited. That is the meaning behind the initiatives that we are championing as part of the International Partnership on Information and Democracy of the Christchurch Appeal and the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence. We must consolidate each of these partnerships and make progress on the Aqaba Process. In that regard, I would like to thank the Prime Minister of New Zealand and the King of Jordan for their commitment to that agenda.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“This One Planet Summit will enable us to build an agenda of concrete actions for protected land and marine areas, agroecology, biodiversity financing and the fight against deforestation, as well as the protection of ecosystems and species. The oceans, the poles and rainforests are part of the common heritage of humankind. It is our duty to protect them and we will do so ahead of the key events for the United Nations, including the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on climate, biodiversity and the fight against desertification. As a show of commitment, I propose that we organize a summit next year in New York, ahead of the three Conferences of the Parties, so as to generate decisive impetus and produce tangible results.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“One without the others would not be as effective. On this basis and alongside our British and European partners, we will seek out the commitments of the major emitters ahead of the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and we will stand by our partners, particularly in Africa, to achieve our common goals. The December meeting will be essential in that regard. In November, we will host a summit of development banks in Paris to ensure that all financial flows contribute to an environmental and inclusive recovery, in line with the Paris Agreement. On biodiversity, which we now know is clearly linked to climate change and human health, as has been demonstrated, we will be organizing a One Planet Summit in Marseilles with the United Nations and the World Bank.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“That is also why, to mark the five-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement, I want France to mobilize the international community anew so that each and every one of us can take stock of our commitments without changing them and without muddying the waters, but instead by transparently renewing the commitment of all of our countries and regions with revitalized determination. In the coming weeks, I am determined to see Europe reach a more ambitious agreement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The President of the European Commission has set the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030. That means we need to move more quickly and decisively towards an ambitious emission trading scheme, a carbon price floor and a carbon border tax. These measures must be taken together.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“This December marks five years since the signing of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We already know that the objectives we collectively set will not be achieved. The response to the pandemic can help us change course. The massive recovery plans adopted in all countries provide a historic opportunity to transform our economic and development models. That must be a core element of the European Union’s ambition, and I would like to thank the President of the European Commission for her strong commitment. It must also be a core aspect of the work of the Group of Seven and the Group of 20. It is vital.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We have a unique opportunity to make the means for combating the pandemic into global public goods to which everyone should have access. That is the meaning behind the action we are taking under the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, which we will consolidate in the coming months across all pillars, particularly with regard to improving health systems. Health, a global public good, is a battle we have been waging throughout the past year, as well as in Lyon, mobilizing the international community once again to finance the fight against historic epidemics. This is what we will continue to do and we must step up our efforts in the months ahead. Now more than ever, the climate and biodiversity must be central to our collective agenda — not in words, but deeds.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“That is why I hope that we, as Europeans, can re-engage in a comprehensive and ambitious discussion with all our neighbours with regard to our collective security and build a new framework that takes into account the end of these historic treaties. I also want to be very clear when I say that we will not delegate our collective security to Powers other than Europe. Thirdly, we must protect our common goods. That is the responsibility of all, as it goes beyond our national interests and regional balances. Protecting our common goods is not at odds with the exercise of our sovereignty. On the contrary, it is the only way to truly preserve our sovereignty by maintaining control over our future. This is exactly what the crisis we face has unquestionably taught us once again. During an epidemic, the health of one is the health of all.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“When we speak of peace and stability, and of collective security for Europe, I cannot remain silent today about the fact that we are living in a situation where our security and stability greatly depend on agreements signed in the past between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and that such agreements have been gradually dismantled over the past decade. The end of the Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles marked an important step that we must not remain silent about.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Along with the German Chancellor and the President of the European Council, we had the opportunity to hold discussions with President Putin in which we advocated for the mediation proposed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. We see no other way forward. Neither interference nor guilty silence is a solution. Europe, in this area as well, will deliver with respect to its responsibility, its history and its geography. But believing in peace and stability in our region also means wanting to build a new grammar, as it were, for continental Europe, for lasting stability. That cannot be reduced to historical agreements or the dismantling of such agreements in recent years.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We Europeans are ready for dialogue and for the essential construction of a Pax Mediterranea, but not through intimidation or a bullying mentality. There must be respect for international law and cooperation and respect among allies. Those principles are non-negotiable. In continental Europe, regarding the Ukrainian crisis, this year the Normandy format allowed us, along with the Federal Chancellor of Germany, to make some initial progress. But the situation in Belarus could lead to further division within our continent. The courage of the people of Belarus commands the admiration of us all. Their aspirations must be fulfilled, and we stand alongside them. I cannot stress this enough. A national political dialogue must be established and any external interference avoided.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Such renewed involvement on the part of Libya’s neighbours is vital in the long term. In the eastern Mediterranean, we must resume effective and clarified dialogue to avert a fresh area of confrontation and the undermining of international law. The Mediterranean countries of the European Union expressed themselves clearly in that respect a few days ago in Ajaccio. We respect and are prepared to engage in dialogue with Turkey, but we expect it to respect European sovereignty and international law and provide clarification concerning its activities in Libya and in Syria. Insults are ineffective. Such words and actions have no place in responsible relations among States nor can they obfuscate Europe’s call for accountability.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Several Powers have also decided to continue importing fighters from the Syrian theatre, exporting terrorism to the region and disregarding the interests of Libya, its neighbours in the Sahel and Europe. Collectively, we have not sufficiently spoken out against those actions, and we must take a much harder line in the weeks to come. We are working together with all our partners in the countries neighbouring Libya to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and then to set in motion a process enabling a political resolution to the conflict under the auspices of the United Nations. That is the initiative that France wishes to undertake in the coming weeks along with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. We must bring together all neighbouring countries to help reach a solution for Libya.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In Libya, the crisis is now having a profound impact on regional stability and has been aggravated by increased outside interference. In my view, Libya is the perfect example of the mistakes that we ourselves could make if we fail to respect the sovereignty of peoples. No Power can seek the good of a people unless the people agree to it and build it themselves through their chosen paths of transition. So today we have no choice but to take very concrete action. That is what Europe is doing to effectively and universally enforce the arms embargo decided by the United Nations. That embargo is currently being violated by several Powers. The situation is not sustainable.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I welcome the fact that Israel has been recognized by additional Arab countries. That is legitimate recognition. It is also a pledge of hope for the future. However, a just and lasting peace requires above all a path back to decisive negotiations that will allow the Palestinians to finally exercise their rights. There is no alternative to courageous negotiations, which will require agreement on the most difficult issues while respecting the legitimate aspirations of the parties to full recognition of their security and sovereignty. I do not believe in peace built on hegemony or humiliation, even if financial compensation is provided, because we know all too well that money cannot compensate for the humiliation of a people. It is up to us, collectively, to work towards that ambitious solution.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In Syria, the resumption of talks in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations is a positive step, but this process cannot be limited to the drafting of a new constitution. It will have to involve the holding of free, fair and transparent elections in order to ensure respect for the aspirations and sovereignty of the Syrian people. France and its European partners will therefore continue to base the financing of reconstruction and the normalization of relations with Damascus on the implementation of a credible political solution, which is the only sustainable solution and the only one that will make it possible to eradicate terrorism in the region. Peace in the Middle East remains a necessity, first and foremost for the Israelis and the Palestinians, but also for us all.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I wish to reiterate here my full support for the Lebanese people and my determination to act from where I am and with full respect for Lebanese sovereignty, in a spirit of friendship and expectation, as I have so often said, so that Lebanon can recover, so that life there can improve and in order to chart the course towards conciliation and a more effective democracy. But Lebanon is a treasure for all humankind — a treasure because it represents a form of exception, democracy and pluralism in a region that is caught in the grip of terrorism and hegemonic Powers. The United Nations, as it has been doing this summer and over the long term, must work together with civil society and non-governmental organizations in order to tackle immediate needs and begin reconstruction. Here too we will remain fully committed.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Our policy principles in this respect must be clear, and we must no longer hesitate to apply them: respect for the sovereign rights of peoples, the consolidation of States based on the rule of law and of their means of implementation, and the requirement and responsibility to ensure the effective implementation of the decisions taken under the auspices of the United Nations. That is exactly what we are doing in Lebanon, where the aspirations of the sovereign Lebanese people must be respected, heard and supported despite the unacceptable transgressions of the Lebanese political class.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The grammar of peace and stability must be redefined, because the lines have shifted radically as a result of the crisis; in fact, they had changed well before it. The withdrawal of America, which acted as the guarantor of last resort of an international system that is now struggling; the hegemonic assertion of other Powers as a result of that disengagement; China’s projection beyond its borders; and the strengthening of European sovereignty are all underlying trends that should lead us to rethink the modalities of our collective action aimed at ensuring peace and security.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I therefore asked for reiteration, in Pau then in Nouakchott, of that request, that need for our involvement, which was also reconfirmed by the junta in Mali. And we will remain highly vigilant on this point. I believe in the sovereignty of peoples, and I think that our fight against terrorism can be meaningful and sustainable only if it is combined with respect for that sovereignty, along with effective democracy and a genuine development policy such as the one we designed with the Alliance for the Sahel, which, along with our European and African partners as well as the World Bank, we are continuing to develop in order to undertake constructive action on the ground. The second priority for the coming months, in my view, is the demanding task of building peace and stability with respect for the sovereign equality of peoples.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“And only democracy, justice, the rule of law and development will restore lasting peace to the Sahel. Those who entered Mali in the name of these principles must not now betray them. They must put Mali irreversibly on track towards the restoration of civilian authority and the prompt holding of elections. France, like its African partners in particular, can only remain engaged on this condition. I will say it and repeat it very clearly: France is only present on Malian soil, as on the soil of other countries in the region, at the request of sovereign States and regional organizations. The very second those States want us to leave or believe they can fight terrorism on their own, we will withdraw.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The Pau and Nouakchott summits made it possible to lay the groundwork for a coalition to strengthen the fight against our two enemies in this region, the Islamic State and Al-Qaida. Both organizations have suffered unprecedented setbacks in recent months. The objectives set in Pau, to focus on the tri-border region and the ISGS, produced unprecedented tangible results. We will continue these efforts. With the support of Barkhane and our European and American partners, the G-5 Sahel armies have regained the advantage, reclaiming positions that had been lost. This dynamic must continue. This is the very purpose of the coalition we are building. Events in Mali over recent weeks further remind us of the obvious: democracy and the fight against terrorism go hand in hand. These two struggles are inextricable.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“That victory did not signal an end to the war in the region. We will continue to fight against all terrorists in the context of the international coalition and alongside all our regional partners. Here I wish to recall the role Kurdish fighters played in Syria alongside the coalition against Da’esh and the terrorists. I also wish to recall the essential role that Iraq and its people played and continue to play in this fight. This is why France strongly supports all the initiatives Iraq is taking today and will continue to take for its sovereignty and its role in the fight against terrorism. In the Sahel, France is, as you know, deeply involved, primarily alongside the five States of the Sahel.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“This investigation must be swift and full, as we will enforce our red lines. And, in this area, France has always fully applied its red lines set since I have been President of the Republic. Our collective security also means fighting terrorism wherever necessary. Terrorism struck on French soil, and in our flesh, several times in recent years, with terrorist acts at times fomented in the very heart, at the epicentre, of Islamist terrorism. I am thinking, in particular, of the 2015 attacks planned in Syria. This is why France will always be strongly committed to the Levant and in support of Iraqi sovereignty, and stands alongside its Sahelian partners. In the Levant, we will remain committed members of the international coalition. We won an initial victory in ending the territorial caliphate.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Even though tangible results are yet to be attained, these initiatives were important, and what we are waiting for now are concrete gestures of commitment from North Korea. It must comply with the resolutions of the Security Council and engage promptly and in good faith in a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization. This is the only possible way to achieve a political solution and lasting peace on the Korean peninsula. It essential for regional stability and security as well as for international peace and security. Likewise, we will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons in Europe, in Russia or in Syria. In the name of collective security, I repeat here to Russia the need for light to be fully shed on the attempted assassination of a member of the political opposition using a novichok nerve agent.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“That would undermine the unity of the Security Council and the integrity of its decisions, and it would run the risk of further aggravating tensions in the region. But we need to build over time a useful framework for action, as I recalled before the General Assembly now more than two years ago — that is to say, the capacity to implement the 2015 agreement. First, promptly, to ensure that, in the long term, Iran will never gain access to nuclear weapons, but also to ensure that we will respond to Iran’s ballistic activity and destabilization of the region. On North Korea, we supported the efforts of the United States of America to pave the way for negotiations to begin.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The strategy of maximum pressure, pursued for several years, has not yet made it possible to put an end to the destabilizing activities of Iran, or to ensure that Iran will not be able to acquire nuclear weapons. That is why France, which, you will remember, was not the country that initiated the negotiations at the time, then designed the JCPOA. But France, with its German and British partners, will continue demanding the full implementation of the 2015 Vienna Agreement and will not accept the violations committed by Iran. However, we will not compromise on the activation of a mechanism that the United States, on its own, when leaving the agreement, is not in a position to activate.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“And at the very moment when all this is taking place, never have we been so out of tune, so out of alignment, so incapable of building quick solutions — so wrapped up in our own situations as even to destroy the frameworks for cooperation we managed to build throughout the past decades. This is why I wanted to lay out before this Assembly the five priorities on which France wishes — primarily with its European partners, but also with all the powers of goodwill, that is to say with all those prepared to engage in doing so — to lay the foundations for a new modern consensus that will allow us to act concretely in the world as it is. The first principle, or the first objective, is the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and against terrorism, the leading threats to our collective security.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Those choices will have an immediate impact on the life of our nations, the existence of our citizens and the global course. We must not shy away from them, because it is precisely when things become shaky that we must get back to what is important. And I have very strongly believed, since the start of the present COVID-19 crisis, that this is not some sort of parenthesis that has opened and will reclose; this is what arises in a world beset by deep-seated crises stemming from our very interdependencies. There will undoubtedly one day be a cure for the pandemic, but there will be no miracle cure for the destruction of the modern order. There will be no miracle cure for the sort of paradox in which we are immersed. Our societies have never been so interdependent.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The crisis, the collapse of our cooperation frameworks and the fragilities that I have just mentioned mean that we must rebuild a new order and that Europe must accept its full share of responsibility. That means upholding its values and its affinity for the future and building new solutions because we are not collectively condemned to a dance of power, which would, in a way, reduce us to merely being the sorry spectators of collective powerlessness. We have room to manoeuvre; it is up to us to make use of that space and to define our priorities in such an environment. We need to establish our choices clearly and build new partnerships. In the coming weeks and months, there will be fundamental choices to be made and decisions to be taken before our peoples and the international community.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Thanks to Europe, along with others, the World Health Assembly decided to learn lessons from the pandemic and improve early-warning and response systems to better prevent such crises. It was Europe that, together with its partners in Asia, America and Africa, has had the drive to develop, propose and provide tangible solutions through cooperation, solidarity and action. In the future, we will need to take into account these new balances that are currently taking shape. We will need to rely on the strength of goodwill, because the world, as it is today, cannot come down to rivalry between China and the United States, no matter the global weight of those two great Powers, no matter the history that binds us together, particularly to the United States of America.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“As a result of the crisis, the European Union, which many predicted would become divided and powerless, has taken a historic step towards unity, sovereignty, solidarity and a vision of the future. It was Europe that, together with its African partners, took the initiative at the Group of Twenty (G-20) to help the most vulnerable countries to tackle the pandemic and ease the debt burden that weighs on economies and jeopardizes the continent’s future. For the first time at a G-20 finance meeting, we agreed a debt moratorium for the poorest countries in Africa. It was Europe that, with its partners, created the ACT-A initiative so that resources to combat the pandemic would be accessible to all.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We struggled so much to agree on so little. But the permanent members were unable, in such exceptional circumstances, to come together as we would have liked, because two of them chose to demonstrate their rivalry rather than collective effectiveness. All of fractures that existed before the pandemic — the hegemonic clash of Powers, the undermining and the manipulation of multilateralism and the trampling of international law — have only increased and deepened due to the global destabilization created by the pandemic. We can no longer turn a blind eye. We no longer have the option or, if I may say, luxury to dither. The pandemic must be a wake-up call for our Organization, and a moment of redemption. That is possible because, in this challenge, we have seen signs of hope.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In the light of that and the many other effects of the pandemic that has struck our planet and which continues to affect every continent, our means of collective action has further fragmented. While the only solution will be found through our cooperation, the international organizations that we crucially need, such as the World Health Organization, have been accused by some of complacency, while others manipulate them. Trusted third-party scientists and journalists, who are so essential to our understanding and ability to efficiently respond to the crisis, have been undermined by State propaganda, as well as the misinformation epidemic. Our Organization risked powerlessness. The Security Council, the guarantor of peace and stability, struggled to agree on a humanitarian truce that we supported with all our strength. Just imagine.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“All the challenges that we faced were intensified and exacerbated within a few months. The successes achieved were hampered and setbacks accumulated. Years of progress in the fight against other infectious diseases, such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, which we thought we could eradicate, have been delayed, or worse. More than 37 million people have fallen into, or fallen back into, extreme poverty. Food insecurity is a serious threat, and it has increased. More than 1 billion students have been affected by schools closing in more than 160 countries. Forty million children have been deprived of their first year of education. Women have been on the front line and have seen all forms of sexual, domestic and gender-based violence build up against them.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“With these opening words, I wish to place them in our thoughts. They are relying on us to commit to and build concrete responses together, since this crisis, clearly more than any other, requires cooperation and requires us to devise new international solutions. First of all, I believe in science and knowledge, and humankind will defeat this pandemic; a cure will be found. But, in the meantime, and no one knows how long that will be, each of our countries have no other choice but to learn to live with the virus, and the world will have to learn to live with this new reality that we cannot escape, revealing our weaknesses and placing us before our immediate responsibilities. That new global reality is clear, brutal and certainly dizzying, and we must approach it without giving in to despair and despondency, but with clear-sightedness.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“President of the General Assembly, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Heads of State and Government, ladies and gentlemen, Last year, we met in New York for the General Assembly, and I called on each and every one of you to have the courage to build peace and shoulder our responsibilities together. Such courage, I must say, has been more than severely tested by a health, economic, social and security crisis of an unprecedented scale, which immediately became global, never before seen since the establishment of our Organization 75 years ago. That courage came first and foremost from those who were on the front line from the beginning, all around the world, and who are still there today, providing medical treatment, food, assistance and physical and moral support — our health-care personnel and humanitarian workers.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“That is what I wanted to say today. I believe in this courage to take responsibility and, more broadly, I believe that this courage will return. In any case, I believe we have no other choice. We must work together. Our grammars have changed; they are no doubt more complex than they were in the past and they certainly engage us more. We know that when it comes to security, inequality, health and climate change, we will all be accountable. But I no longer believe in the easy way out of pessimism. I no longer believe in division. I believe in our ability to propose ideas, to reflect and to act together to build this agenda for reconciliation that will enable everyone, everywhere, to see the light in our future.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Remaining in this tandem of condemnation and inaction will lead to nothing. I firmly believe that the courage to assume responsibility means facing the facts, to accept that there are things we can do right now and others that will take time, because in all of our countries there are producers depending on certain products that are harmful; there are people who live in poorly constructed housing and continue to pollute even as they move on. We cannot point the finger at them. Rather, we must help them to change and we must offer solutions through technological innovation, investment and a real agenda to fight social and climate-related inequalities. That agenda of reconciliation is what we need and that is what I want to do in France, what we need to implement in Europe and what we must build right here.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We know that we cannot go on simply condemning. Our predecessors condemned 20 years ago, which allowed groups of experts to be established. But alongside this rhetoric of condemnation, for some, there is comfort in inaction, a habit of cynicism. In the middle of it all, there is a rather haphazard, somewhat clumsy group of people trying to take action. Let us take this challenge in our stride; let us build this agenda of reconciliation with our public opinion, with our youth, with our companies, with our investors and with Governments of good faith. We have the facts; let us continue to establish them and, from now on, change our habits. We must change our consumer habits, our production habits, our investment habits, our governance and civic habits in order to collectively engage in this agenda for change.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“It is about working together to try to change our collective political, economic, social organizations to reduce inequalities and, better still, to prevent them. I do not believe that the right response to growing contemporary inequalities in the areas of climate, opportunities and education lies in the fiscal agenda of each individual country. I believe that the answer lies in education, access to health care and policies to prevent inequality in each individual country, but above all in stronger international cooperation and a robust agenda to combat such inequalities. But on a fundamental level, this requires an agenda of reconciliation. What we are seeing in front of us is, on the one hand, a constant rhetoric of condemnation. I hear it, and it pushes us to act, but words of condemnation are no longer enough.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“When it comes to our oceans, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report Global Warming of 1.5°C is utterly devastating. We have been confronted with the naked, stubborn truth and we are losing the battle. At the recent G-7 Summit in Biarritz, we began building coalitions with major transporters, which committed to reducing speeds. This is just the beginning — we are far from having won — and I hope that we will commit, as we are doing for the forests, to the fight for the oceans with the funding and concrete actions needed to win this battle. Right now, it is all about our initial changes and our initial actions. I cannot stress enough that what we are collectively trying to do is vital.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“By the time the United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Santiago, we will have met extremely effective and pragmatic criteria so as to invest more closely on the ground and find useful solutions to promote reforestation, biodiversity and agroecology protection and all economic development projects concerning Amazonia and the African forest in the Congo basin. This will promote economic development and forest preservation, and thus our fight for biodiversity and against global warming. The fight for biodiversity, too, will be the focus of major meetings in 2020, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress in France and the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Beijing. We need clear actions to be taken by 2020.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are currently losing the battle on these two global issues. Yesterday, I believe that the commitment demonstrated by all marked an important step forward in defending the Amazon rainforest and the African forest — that is, the primary forest reserves of our planet. We have countries that have committed to this cause — France is one of them — but here I wish to highlight in particular the efforts of Germany and Norway. We were joined by major countries, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the majority of the countries affected by Amazonia, to speak diplomatically. I encourage all those who wish to join the fight to join it, but we need to move forward.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“This will involve deep-rooted changes and partnership strategies with countries of origin, with our businesses and our financial backers. I am not saying that everything is going well in France and that we are doing everything right; that is far from the truth. But if we are not collectively responsible and transparent and if we do not accept the fact that we must practice what we preach when it comes to our commercial policies and climate agendas, we will never achieve it. It will take some years, but we must start now. There are two climate-related topics that I wish to underscore here before concluding. If we want to succeed in the war on climate change, we must look to save our forests and our oceans. These two battles are essential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and preserve our biodiversity balance.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“On the matter of coherence, as I said yesterday, we can no longer have open, free-trade commercial strategies that do not include the climate question in their own agendas. The two must be combined. I believe in openness and free trade, but only to the extent that they are well thought out and able to integrate the objectives of zero carbon and zero deforestation. This means that, at each stage, we must build compatible solutions and find measures for compensation. However, we cannot force certain countries to make efforts and then continue to trade with those that do not, and we cannot continue to make statements from this rostrum and continue importing products that contradict them. Nothing is going to change overnight. France, on its part, is too often an importer of products that lead to deforestation.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We must commit all our development banks, as we began to do on Sunday, towards a reorientation of financing towards renewable energies everywhere, because in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific, the future of energy production is also about getting out of coal and no longer being coal-dependent. In the same way, we must build a climate fund commensurate with these ambitions. In a few weeks, the first Green Climate Fund pledging conference will take place in Paris and I call on our major partners on this issue to provide crucial financing. There are many of us that have already doubled our commitments and I urge others to do the same, as such contributions will be most decisive.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Everyone, within their own limitations and with the help of the international community, the right funding and respect for each component of our societies, needs to commit to a strategy to wean ourselves of coal. The major countries of the world must also stop financing new polluting facilities in developing countries. We continue to this day to export financing and projects in various countries financed by developed countries, which consist of launching new polluting structures and telling developing countries, the poorest countries, in not so many words that climate change is not for them. They can go on polluting; everything’s fine where you are. That is inconsistent and irresponsible. Let us be honest with ourselves.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I am aware of China’s proactive approach to climate change, which has been so important in recent years. I know that together, if we commit to carbon neutrality, we can make a significant difference in achieving our objectives. As such, the twenty-fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Chile, and the twenty-sixth session, to be held in Europe, will be defining events. Secondly, we must bring our agendas and actions back into line. I said this yesterday, but we cannot claim to be doing everything perfectly well and call for calm while we continue to be dependent on coal, as is the case in too many countries.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“That is crucial if we are to have a chance at limiting the rise in temperatures to below 2°C by the end of the century. To that end, we must act in 2020. In Europe, we must make the necessary decisions in 2020 in that regard, particularly on carbon taxation, with a real, higher minimum price and border taxation. If we have not convinced some partners to follow that agenda, those courageous decisions are needed, and the time is now. We need to engage all countries more broadly in a carbon neutrality strategy by 2050. Several have joined that coalition. President Piñera Echenique has just presented it to the Assembly. We must continue to convince stakeholders and participate in that essential strategy. India has just expressed its willingness to join that agenda and coalition.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Essentially, there is an ongoing paradox in climate matters, to which we are collectively being inured. We have basically given our impatient young people a boilerplate response. We give them the opportunity to express themselves and we tell them that we can hear them and that they are doing great; and then, all too often, we go on doing just as we did before. That will not hold up. I welcome the commitment of the Secretary- General and say that, in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, we must undertake even stronger action and fundamentally change our collective Organization, the system itself, and seek not to offset, but rather to correct and change it ourselves with all our investors, companies and societies. First, we must broaden our ambitions.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)