Ministry Statements & Speeches:
We, the Ministers from Costa Rica, Fiji, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, met today at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to discuss progress in negotiations for the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS). We reaffirm our Joint Statements issued at COP25 and COP26.
We recall that during COP26 in Glasgow, UNFCCC parties reaffirmed the long-term global goal under the Paris Agreement Convention, and recognised that accelerated action needs to be taken to ensure the 1.5 degree target remains within reach. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II Report also highlighted that the world is not on track to deal with current climate impacts, and that to build on Glasgow’s momentum we need to further enhance our individual and collective ambition across mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation within this decade in order to achieve climate action in line with the objective to limit global warming to 1.5°C. In doing so, we continue to recognize the particular vulnerability of Small Island Developing States to the impacts of climate change.
We further recall that the Glasgow Climate Pact called upon parties to “accelerate the development, deployment and dissemination of technologies, and the adoption of policies, to transition towards low-emission energy systems, including […] phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, while providing targeted support to the poorest and most vulnerable in line with national circumstances and recognizing the need for support towards a just transition.” The ACCTS negotiations promises to make a direct and meaningful contribution to the realisation of these goals through its focus on the liberalisation of environmental goods and services that will make these cheaper and incentivise investment and diffusion of new climate friendly technologies; the development of best practice guidelines for eco-labelling that will assist in making environmentally meaningful choices; and the elimination of harmful fossil fuel subsidies that will level the playing field for renewable energy to compete.
Therefore, we once again jointly express our strong support for the ACCTS initiative at COP27 as a practical example of urgent climate change action, and how economies can leverage trade rules and policies in pursuit of climate and broader sustainable development objectives.
We welcome progress in the ACCTS negotiations to date, including as outlined in the ACCTS Joint Trade Ministers Statement, issued on 15 June 2022, and express our continued determination to achieve ambitious outcomes that are aligned with the Paris Agreement’s aims. Given the urgency of the climate challenge, we further emphasise the need to conclude negotiations as soon as possible and expand its membership so as to contribute to our host’s objectives of ambitious and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.
16 November 2022
Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt