PM Bettel Says International Solidarity is Key Against Climate Crisis

From Monday 7 to Tuesday 8 November 2022, Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Minister of State, Xavier Bettel, traveled to the COP27 Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh to participate in the High Level Segment of Heads of State and Government.

This 27th Conference of the Framework Convention on Climate is being held after the provisions for the implementation of the Paris Agreement were detailed at the COPs in Katowice (2018), Madrid (2019) and Glasgow (2021). The Egyptian-sponsored COP27 is dedicated to fulfilling the promises made at COP15 in Paris in 2015.

Three negotiation processes are on the agenda of the COP this year: the subject of "loss and damage", "climate finance" and the "global stocktake" - the global inventory of greenhouse gas reduction efforts.

While COP27 is of a rather transitional nature, it is no less important given the current geopolitical context. Prime Minister Bettel notably specified during his speech that: “Today we are faced with a whole series of new crises. We have a war on the European continent with implications far beyond Europe: the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law more generally, have been undermined by the Russian war of aggression; a food crisis is affecting some regions of the world and an energy crisis is affecting others. Solidarity between nations is essential to meet all these challenges. And it is this international solidarity which is essential to move forward in our fight against this crisis which threatens us all and to which we must provide urgent responses: the climate crisis”.

Prime Minister Bettel then reiterated Luxembourg's efforts at the national level, including the promotion and subsidy of photovoltaic installations which are part of the country's efforts to promote renewable energies. The Prime Minister also reiterated the importance of including citizens in political decisions around climate policy, like the Klimabiergerrot. The measures of the “Fit for 55” package, which are about to be finalised within the European Union, are an important step towards the decarbonisation of the European economy.

Prime Minister Bettel added: “My country had made available, for the years 2021 to 2025, an envelope of €220 million for this purpose. These funds, in addition to official development assistance to which Luxembourg will continue to allocate 1% of its GNI, will be invested to help the most vulnerable populations. Solidarity with countries is all the more important as these countries are disproportionately affected by climate change".