High Level Segment Opening Ceremony

On the 15th of November at 2:30 PM, COP attendees from country delegations to journalists to NGO representatives gathered in the New York Planery Hall for the Opening Ceremony of the High Level Segment of COP 23. The speakers included Frank Bainimarama, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Timoci Naulusala.

The event kicked off with the COP president and Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama introducing a child from Fiji named Timoci Naulusala. Naulusala lost his “home, school, food, water and money” from the biggest tropical storm to hit Fiji. He stated how climate change is an issue that is happening now and it is urgent that it be fixed. He ended his speech with a powerful statement: “Speeches and thoughts won’t solve the problem, walking the talk will be more effective.”

From left to right Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Timoci Naulusala, Frank Bainimarama and, Antonio Guterres 

After Naulusala’s speech, Prime Minister Bainimarama said, “We hear his cry and we hear his plea. Ladies and gentlemen that is why we are here in Bonn.” Bainimarama then started his statement. He called the Paris Agreement, “A great responsibility and we all must live up to it.”. He also stated, “This is not just entertainment your Excellencies. It is to remind the world we are not simply negotiating words on a page, we are representing the interests to our people and the places they call home.”

The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, began his statement by saying he was open to those who fell off [The US] to come back on board and that China is trying but they "have a long way to go" to achieve their goals. He stated it was not fair that the small island nations contributed the least amount to carbonization but they have to suffer natural disasters. "Climate change doesn't do agreements or ceasefires and it can't be negotiated”.

The Prime Minister of Germany Angela Merkel's statement was fine but was vague on the issue of coal. Merkel did say the country of Germany should reduce its use of coal but that it won't meet their 2020 goal. She said that by 2020 “Germany's emissions will lower by 40%” and that they will double climate funding by 2020.

From left to right Emmanuel Macron, Timoci Naulusala and, Angela Merkel

The President of France Emmanuel Macron opened his statement saying that 15,000 scientists in the past 25 years have warned about how we are close to the point of no return by neglecting climate effects. He called climate change the most significant struggle of modern times. The big highlight was his statement that the United States is neglecting funding and his proposal that “Europe has replaced America and that France will meet that challenge”.  He further stated that France and Europe as a whole need to reduce greenhouse emissions by taxing carbon and imports from countries that don’t represent their environmental goals.

The President of the Republic of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, began his statement with a warning that, “the deadline is approaching and the horizon is getting further distant.".  He said that agriculture is being attacked by droughts and floods and that it was time for developing countries “to lift their side of the bucket”.

The High Level Statement event was a highlight for me at COP 23. I enjoyed hearing what other world leaders and representatives had to say about the impact climate change has on their countries and their goals for 2020 and beyond.

 The view in the gallery

Zach W.