Remarks of Segolene Royal President of COP21 at COP22 Opening Ceremony

USPA NEWS - The official opening ceremony to the Marrakech Climate Change Conference featured remarks by COP22 President Salaheddine Mezouar, COP21 President Segolene Royal, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair, Hoesung Lee & the Mayor of Marrakech

The official opening ceremony to the Marrakech Climate Change Conference featured remarks by COP22 President Salaheddine Mezouar, COP21 President Segolene Royal, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair, Hoesung Lee and the Mayor of Marrakech, Mohammed Larbi Belcadi. Here is the full address of Segolene Royal. REMARKS OF SEGOLENE ROYAL PRESIDENT OF COP21 : PART I-------------------------------------------------------------- “Ladies and gentlemen, friends of climate fight. My thanks first of all addressed to His Majesty King Mohamed VI of Morocco and his government, and particularly Salaheddine Mezouar who will be president of the COP22 shortly. Thank you for their outstanding welcome here in Marrakech. Thank you also for having illuminated the Hassan Tower in Rabat on November 4, at the same time as the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysee.------------------------------------------------- Today, at he opening of the COP22, I feel pride and emotion: - Emotion, because I remember the first Earth Summit in Rio 24 years ago in which I participated as Minister of the Environment, - Pride to share with you this wonderful news today, the opening day of the COP22, 100 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement. WE HAVE MADE POSSIBLE WHAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes we have made possible what was said impossible, with determination, stubbornness, with force and never slacken our efforts. This is a historic moment in the history of mankind. I appeal to the 93 countries that have not yet ratified for them to do so before the end of this year. We can be proud of the work, This solid foundation on which we must continue to build low-carbon strategies to reduce below 2 degrees global warming and reduction of disasters and misfortunes that would lead a blind inertia. Now our eyes are open and wide open! Hurry up. The year just ended was the hottest. The melting of glaciers is accelerating. Desertification havoc. The massive urban concentrations call for a new urban development model-

THREE MAJOR PRINCIPLES HAVE GUIDED MY ACTION OF COP21 Three major principles have guided my action of COP21, under the auspices of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. - The direction of the climate emergency. - Concern for the climate effectiveness, because tackling this huge challenge is also an opportunity to invent the world that comes with new jobs with green growth. - And especially climate justice: the richest countries live as if there were three planet. The poorest country as if there were already over. So I ask again for climate justice and especially for Africa. This is the great challenge of COP22. The COP22 is an African COP and that is where is the priority and hope. In his speech last night in Dakar, King Mohammed VI appealed to the success of the COP22. It traces clearly the priorities of the Moroccan Presidency, in particular the inclusion of African issues, with mobilization for access to finance and technology transfer. I put all my efforts on the continent during my presidency, and as I was myself engaged with the three reports to the UNSG.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - The African Initiative for renewable energy projects with hydraulic, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, ocean energy. - Women and climate. - The safety and climate. Climate change in Africa is cruel and unjust. This is the continent that suffers the most through no fault with the disasters of desertification. Of the 50 most hurt by global warming country, 36 are located in sub-Saharan Africa. BY 2050 THE POPULATION IN AFRICA WILL DOUBLE TO MORE THAN 2Bn PEOPLE ------------------------------------ By 2050 the population will double to more than 2 billion people. A race against time is now engaged to build the right of citizens of the African continent to reach the light and electricity of which 700 million are deprived today. That is why as a symbol, I offer this small solar lamp in the shape of Ethiopia flower we all together will light while ago to mark the right of the African continent to light, when Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary UNFCCC will give the sign...../ See next publication the rest (Part II of the Full address of Segolene Royal President of COP21 and Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development).