EU4Climate:

Launch of a new regional climate change initiative for the Eastern Partnership countries

Courtyard Marriott, Tbilisi

22 April 2019

Welcome remarks by UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton

Let me start by wishing everyone a happy Earth Day!

• I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate this occasion than by launching our new regional initiative aimed at addressing the number one environmental challenge now facing the world: climate change.

• As our UN Secretary-General likes to say, ours is the first generation with the power to eliminate poverty entirely, and perhaps the last generation that stands any chance of halting climate change.

• As we learn more about the devastating consequences of global warming and the terrifying speed with which it is advancing, outpacing the most dire predictions, the imperative to act is irrefutable.

• The scientific evidence leaves no room for doubt.

• The world’s 20 warmest years on record were recorded in the past 22 years.

• And the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 have been the hottest years ever.

• Last year, moreover, broke local heat records all around the world, and experts note that climate change is now tending to lock weather fronts in place, with extreme weather events as the result.

• The rising urgency of climate action is why we at the United Nations Development Programme are so pleased to be undertaking this new initiative in partnership with the European Union.

• With a budget of 9 million euros over four year, the EU4Climate program will help the six Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – take steps to climate-proof their communities and their economies.

• To do this, the program will provide support in devising plans and policies to meet the emissions reduction targets agreed in Paris in 2015 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

• As a mountainous country that depends heavily on agriculture, Georgia faces particularly acute risks from climate change.

• We have already seen how extreme weather events can cause natural disasters like the 2015 floods that devastated parts of Tbilisi.

• Over the past two decades, climate-driven disasters have cost Georgia 152 lost lives and 1.2 billion dollars in economic costs.

• If no action is taken, we reckon that the country stands to lose up to 12 billion dollars by 2030.

• By taking action now, these losses can be reduced and perhaps prevented altogether.

• What’s more – and what we aim to show with this project – climate change is not just a challenge to be managed; it is also an opportunity full of potential for human development.

• UNDP’s experience across 140 countries shows that that climate action can unlock economic and social benefits that can speed our way toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

• The shift to a greener economy gives us a chance to create entirely new job-rich occupations.

• It offers us an opportunity to improve consumption habits and pursue healthier lifestyles.

• And it gives us a powerful incentive to preserve rather than destroy our environment.

• These are all win-win solutions that we aim to help Georgia and the other five countries embrace.

• We look forward to expanding our already productive partnership in climate change efforts with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, and we thank the European Union for its trust.

• We count on everyone here for your energy and engagement as we move forward with our new project, which we trust will do its part in making every day in Georgia a celebration of Earth Day!

Thank you for joining us today.