Luxembourg Represented at International Climate Conference Meeting in Fiji

On the invitation of the incoming Fiji presidency of the upcoming UN climate conference in Bonn, Luxembourg Environment Minister Carole Dieschburg attended an informal ministerial preparatory meeting, PreCOP23, held on 17 and 18 October 2017 in Nadi, Fiji.

At this preparatory meeting of the International Climate Conference, ministers from the different countries, along with the President of the Republic of Fiji, Jioji Konrote, and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, President-Elect of COP23, discussed the main political issues on the agenda of COP23 in four parallel sessions. In addition to the Paris Plan of Action on the details of the legal framework of the Paris Agreement, raising the level of ambition was a key issue for trade at this meeting.

In her speech on the means of implementation, Carole Dieschbourg recalled Luxembourg's determination to support international climate finance with a contribution of €120 million from 2014 to 2020. She also stressed the role of public investors and recent initiatives, notably the green exchange, the platform between Luxembourg and the European Investment Bank (EIB) on climate finance.

In the context of the session on risk management and climate resilience, Minister Dieschbourg shared Luxembourg's experience in making resources available for adaptation in the target countries, in particular concerning the management of forests in Burkina Faso and Central America and sustainable mangrove management in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Austria and Italy in Fiji.

Indeed, in order to show Luxembourg’s commitment to climate finance, Minister Dieschburg agreed, in a bilateral meeting with Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the minister for climate change in Fiji, several avenues of bilateral projects with the state, addressing adaptation to climate change, notably by setting up a system of risk insurance for the homes of Fijian residents.

This is the first time that one of the Pacific island states, which is among the most vulnerable to climate change, has chaired a preparatory session for a global climate conference.