REPLAY: French President Macron addresses world leaders at COP28
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00:00 COP28 climate summit is underway.
00:03 It is on its second day in Dubai,
00:06 and French President Emmanuel Macron
00:08 is one of the many world leaders attending.
00:11 He is speaking live.
00:13 -The status has almost changed.
00:15 The private actors in our countries must also commit.
00:18 I welcome the launch of the Lone Planet Data Hub,
00:21 which allows us to compare the decarbonization path
00:27 of 400 of the biggest companies.
00:28 Moreover, emerging countries must phase out carbon,
00:32 and that is the second big fight for us.
00:34 Now, if there is a top priority,
00:36 that is for the emerging countries to phase out carbon.
00:41 We must allow developing countries
00:42 to catch up economically.
00:44 That's an element of justice,
00:46 but that catch-up must not be done on the basis
00:49 of fossil fuels, especially coal,
00:52 and for a simple reason, and that is today,
00:55 existing plants that are concentrated
00:57 chiefly in Asia, which will emit enough CO2 for us
01:03 that we'll exceed the 1.5-degree target.
01:07 So while each year we must draw down
01:10 our fossil-fuel-based energy production,
01:13 just as I speak, we have 500 gigawatts
01:18 of new coal capacities that are being planned,
01:22 and you have an absurdity, as we speak,
01:26 a true absurdity to choose coal,
01:29 and so we need to make a complete U-turn on this subject.
01:33 First, the G7 countries must set the example.
01:36 I commend my colleague,
01:37 Sunil, who is here with us and who presided this club,
01:41 who is very courageous on this subject,
01:43 but the G7 must set the example and commit
01:45 to putting an end to coal at home before others.
01:50 So before 2030, France will live up to its commitment
01:52 to completely close all its plants by 2027,
01:57 under my own mandate.
01:58 I can't promise what will happen after me,
02:00 but that's what I can promise for now.
02:04 Then the richest countries must also help
02:06 the developing countries also to phase out coal.
02:08 Since Glasgow, the G7 has committed close to $50 billion
02:13 in just transition energy partnerships,
02:17 the JEP with Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa.
02:20 These are good methods.
02:22 They must be pursued and disseminated
02:25 to help the coal phase out,
02:27 but this also means we must be consistent.
02:30 We must, therefore, stop subsidizing
02:33 new coal-powered plants.
02:34 The G20 committed this in Rome in 2021,
02:37 but we must change the rules when it comes to private financing.
02:40 As I speak, the private sector has no disincentive
02:46 to finance a coal plant as opposed to a renewable.
02:49 That's absurd, and, therefore, our private markets
02:52 and our investment systems are massively dysfunctional,
02:55 and it's really shocking for everyone.
02:56 Therefore, we must overhaul the system.
02:58 In the next few years, there must be one rate of interest,
03:01 if you like, for green and one rate of interest for brown,
03:05 and if there is one priority for the funders
03:09 to ensure consistency,
03:11 it would be to differentiate that rate of interest,
03:14 which is a major spread
03:15 because it doesn't integrate climate risk,
03:18 and the way we look at investment today,
03:22 we're in no way considering properly
03:26 how we are funding assets
03:29 which will have depreciated in a few years' time
03:31 and which are completely inconsistent
03:32 with our global strategy.
03:33 We're going to launch this with the World Bank
03:35 and our partnerships as part of the Coal Transition
03:37 Accelerator Initiative, which we're launching tomorrow.
03:40 A third remark, we must commit to placing trade policy
03:45 for the benefit of the environmental transition.
03:48 This is another aberration that I want to put on the table here
03:51 because we invest in greening our industries
03:55 at a global, regional level,
03:57 but at the same time, we continue to liberalize
04:00 pollutant goods around the planet
04:02 as if nothing was happening.
04:04 That's very discouraging, and it's a lose-lose option.
04:07 I want to say clearly, we do need major efforts in Europe,
04:11 for example, to decarbonize industry and agriculture.
04:15 If we continue to have the same trade agreements
04:18 that we had in the 1980s, 1990s,
04:20 sometimes agreements that were negotiated over that period
04:22 that allow us to bring --
04:25 to allow countries to go back to using coal,
04:28 and then what's the point?
04:31 Then our producers won't follow us.
04:32 They'll be right because that --
04:35 So what we must have is a system
04:37 that allows us to engage everyone on the same strategy.
04:40 I think we must integrate in the WTO rules our climate rules.
04:44 We need to bring them into the system,
04:46 and therefore, we need to completely overhaul
04:48 in that system and integrate a climate clause into the WTO
04:54 to align our trade regimes with the Paris Accords.
04:58 And there's a very -- there are a few technical
05:00 but central points in that respect.
05:02 We must be able to subsidize green industry.
05:05 It could be legitimate.
05:06 But if it consists with climate benefits,
05:10 then the WTO needs to look into this.
05:12 We need to place a tariff on coal like the EU.
05:15 That's not the trade discrimination,
05:17 but it needs to be done consistently
05:19 with the goal of zero carbon by 2050.
05:22 It should not be an instrument to block trade,
05:25 but it needs to be verified.
05:27 And we also need to liberalize trade of environmental assets
05:31 instead of pollutant assets to allow the energy
05:35 and environmental transition to take place much more quickly.
05:39 Fourthly, no one should have to choose
05:42 between combating poverty and the struggle for the climate.
05:46 This mini-revolution, which we launched a few months ago
05:50 back in Paris, is the Paris Pact for people and the planet.
05:53 We shouldn't have to choose between climate
05:55 and combating poverty.
05:56 Everyone should be able to choose their own path.
05:59 More public money is needed.
06:00 We need to mobilize more private money.
06:03 In six months from now, there'll be a six-month review
06:06 that will be published during this COP.
06:09 Maki Sal, the official special envoy for the pact,
06:12 will come with the secretary.
06:15 But already we've managed to mobilize much more money
06:18 together by mobilizing the IMF and World Bank.
06:22 I thank them.
06:22 I invite all those who have not yet done so
06:24 to redistribute their special drawing rights from the IMF.
06:28 We've already managed to mobilize $110 billion
06:31 that will allow us to launch in 11 countries
06:34 a day special programs.
06:36 And those programs will allow us to prevent climate incidents
06:39 and to combat poverty.
06:40 We need to generalize this.
06:42 And it's that commitment of a greater mobilization
06:45 that we've launched with the Prime Minister Modi.
06:48 All this will broadly must lead us towards a transformation
06:53 of the very international financial architecture
06:57 that was thought of at a time when many of the countries
06:59 in the present --
07:00 many of the countries in this room
07:02 didn't even exist at the time.
07:03 So we need to rekindle hope to make it truly inclusive.
07:07 And this profound transformation of our governance is a priority.
07:12 One thing I want to stress, we must lose sight of the need
07:17 for adaptation, adaptation of agricultural models,
07:19 particularly in Africa, is a key subject.
07:22 The Great Green Wall is making progress.
07:24 I'm very pleased about that.
07:25 And we shouldn't lose sight of that object
07:27 where we've mobilized more than 30 million euros,
07:33 together with King Charles.
07:35 We also announced an investment of 150 million euros
07:40 in the next cycle of the International Fund
07:42 for Agricultural Development.
07:44 I want to urge here all countries present
07:46 to participate in December in the replenishment of that fund,
07:52 which will play a key role in reconciling
07:54 the agricultural goal and the climate goal.
07:57 And that is a crucial struggle,
07:59 because we cannot ask the African countries
08:01 to choose between the two,
08:02 between agricultural production and/or climate.
08:05 We need both with sustainable models.
08:07 And the Ukrainian war has shown us
08:10 that this model is unsustainable,
08:12 because many countries need fertilizer.
08:17 And so we must help them so they can produce more at home,
08:21 but at a much more decarbonized level without coal.
08:24 And all this is a key element.
08:25 And that's the agenda
08:27 that we'll be launching with Kazakhstan tomorrow.
08:30 It's called "One Planet" on the issue of water
08:33 to be held in September.
08:34 I welcome the progress made during this president
08:38 when it comes to loss and damage.
08:40 France will be financing 100 million euros
08:43 based on governance elements,
08:45 pending decisions on this subject.
08:48 I want to stress a number of points here,
08:49 because the debate has really stepped up in Shamal Sheikh
08:54 on loss and damage.
08:56 Thanks very much to my friend Mia Motley,
08:57 who did outstanding work.
08:59 But we need to be careful on this issue
09:01 on a number of points.
09:02 First of all, let's not confuse the situation
09:05 of low-income countries and poor countries.
09:08 We need this fund,
09:09 but first it must go to the poorest countries above all.
09:12 We need, above all, profound reform of insurance
09:16 and reinsurance system, given in the face of climate risk,
09:20 and this for the middle-income countries that need it.
09:22 That fund must allow us to carry out that reform,
09:25 to have a buffer, a guarantee.
09:27 But we must have mechanisms between which we can distinguish,
09:30 depending on the category of country.
09:31 I'll say that straight away.
09:33 We need a simple form of governance.
09:37 We also need a country-by-country approach.
09:38 For example, we'll be establishing
09:40 a first-country partnership on adaptation
09:43 and loss and damage with Bangladesh.
09:46 France will invest 1 billion euros,
09:49 so much more than we're putting into the fund now,
09:51 because that's a specific country approach.
09:53 We'll invest 1 billion.
09:55 The IMF will add close to $20 billion,
10:01 thanks to special drawing rights.
10:02 And this is a key element of this laboratory
10:04 we want to make on loss and damage.
10:05 But what we need is an approach, a country-specific approach.
10:09 Beyond that, we need for that true international taxation.
10:14 And with Barbados, Kenya,
10:15 and we are officially launching during this COP
10:19 an international task force,
10:21 which will have to provide its findings to the G20 in Rio
10:26 to place international taxation during COP 30.
10:29 That is a necessity if we want to achieve real results,
10:32 because we need to raise more money
10:34 so as to finance our struggle against inequality
10:37 and for climate.
10:39 Finally, climate and biodiversity
10:42 must be addressed together.
10:46 Therefore, we must stress the fact
10:47 that we must continue our struggle for nature.
10:50 Forests, the oceans are part of our COP
10:53 because they are carbon wells
10:58 and a lever for extraordinary solutions in the transition.
11:01 That is why I will take this opportunity
11:04 to continue to establish, first of all,
11:09 we need to accelerate when it comes to a real exchange
11:15 on carbon.
11:17 We need to invest much more private money
11:19 to countries who preserve their forests and ecosystems.
11:24 We raised this in Libreville at the start of the year.
11:27 We'll conclude with Pambo, New Guinea, the Guinea, the Congo.
11:30 The first national forest package,
11:36 the idea being that we provide public and private loans
11:41 to countries who save their forests,
11:43 because we don't have that now.
11:44 We put a lot of money into carrying out reforestation,
11:47 but the developing countries,
11:50 their forests are being destroyed
11:52 to finance much more profitable economic activities.
11:55 Therefore, there's an urgency to put money
11:57 into those country-specific approaches
11:59 and to have a shared methodology,
12:01 and we'll be investing 500 million euros
12:03 in the next four years in protecting forests
12:06 following that methodology.
12:07 And the oceans are also a priority.
12:10 It will be our honor to host the UN Conference
12:13 on the Oceans in 2025.
12:15 Our ambition is to develop a real compact for the oceans
12:20 with very in-depth international rules
12:24 to preserve in our EEZs,
12:27 but also in the high seas to protect biodiversity,
12:30 to better regulate fisheries,
12:32 and to combat illegal fishing and reduce pollution at sea.
12:37 So those are some of the key elements
12:38 that I wanted to bring to you in this debate,
12:41 which are both solutions,
12:43 commitments on the part of France,
12:45 and also concerns where we need to step up the common agenda.
12:50 Thank you very much, President, for your attention.
12:52 Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
12:53 That was French President Emmanuel Macron speaking there live
13:01 from the COP28 summit that is ongoing in Dubai.
13:05 France 24's Valérie Descampes
13:07 is reporting from that conference.
13:10 Valérie, you just listened, as we did, to Emmanuel Macron.
13:15 He made some interesting announcements
13:17 regarding funding for environmental initiatives.
13:21 What else did he say?
13:22 He talked a lot about climate solidarity,
13:27 this notion that developing countries
13:31 should not choose between battling poverty
13:34 and battling the climate crisis.
13:36 He also talked a lot about adaptation
13:39 and how we can help African countries in particular
13:42 really adapt to the consequences of the climate crisis,
13:46 especially when it comes to agriculture.
13:48 And he also devoted a big chunk of his speech
13:52 to energy and the energy transition, specifically coal.
13:56 He said that existing coal-fired power plants
13:59 would push the world beyond the 1.5 degree limit
14:03 set by the Paris Agreement.
14:05 And we know that during his trip to Dubai,
14:08 Emmanuel Macron, he really wants to focus
14:10 on two main themes when it comes to energy.
14:13 Coal, reducing coal capacity, and nuclear energy,
14:16 ramping up nuclear energy.
14:19 The Elysee Palace says that France really wants
14:22 to take a pragmatic approach when it comes to energy
14:24 during this COP.
14:25 The country, France, is part of what we call
14:28 the High Ambition Coalition, so a group of countries
14:32 that really want to push hard for a fossil fuel phase-out.
14:35 No ifs, no buts, but they are very much aware as well
14:40 that pushing for that fossil fuel phase-out
14:43 will be a very tough sell.
14:45 And so they want to have this more pragmatic approach
14:48 and support maybe more of a coal phase-down
14:52 or a coal phase-out.
14:54 That is why Macron wants to focus on nuclear energy
14:57 and coal, nuclear energy, because we know that it is
15:01 a low-carbon source of energy.
15:04 France is already a nuclear champion.
15:07 75% of the country's energy comes from nuclear power,
15:10 and they want to be that champion as well
15:12 on the global stage.
15:14 France would like to see a commitment
15:16 to triple nuclear energy by 2050,
15:20 and for developing nations to use nuclear energy
15:23 to essentially move away from fossil fuels.
15:26 And coal, why does he want to talk about coal?
15:29 Because there is more momentum potentially
15:31 for a coal phase-out. Already at COP26,
15:35 countries agreed on phasing down unabated coal capacity,
15:40 and so that process has already been going,
15:44 and there is more momentum for coal.
15:46 So again, France wanting to take a more pragmatic approach
15:49 when it comes to energy here at COP28.
15:52 Thank you so much for that latest update.
15:55 Valérie Descamps reporting there live.