Ladies and gentlemen,
A very good afternoon to all of you.
Let me start by thanking the Presidency, and dear Maria, you particularly, for hosting a particularly good event.
Only a couple of weeks ago, we were here with the whole College to interact with your President and the government.
It was a very fruitful set of meetings.
Today and yesterday, very much impressed by professionalism, the agenda setting and how we are advancing all the topics that are so hugely important on the agenda, for our Member States and our citizens.
There are three things that I would single out from todays discussions.
First, and I can only echo what the Minister just said, we will need to make sure that we domestically link climate, competitiveness and independence much more. There is no alternative than continuing and advancing climate action for the simple reason that we feel the adverse effects pretty much everywhere.
The trick is to make sure it is a bridge with competitiveness, that we are making a business case out of it, and that we are enhancing our independence. This is at the heart of climate and economic policy in the years ahead. I just wanted to echo that. It was not specifically part of the agenda, but I agree with the Minister.
Second, on resilience. It is hugely important. Given where the problem of climate change is today, unfortunately mitigation is not enough. We will need to make ourselves resilient, we will need to make sure we do better across Europe with floods, wildfires, and extreme weather.
Yesterday, the Minister and I had a very fruitful, intense and in a way intimidating conversation about water shortage here in Cyprus, which I can only begin to understand is hugely pressing for the country and very much top of mind. I wanted to thank you for sharing that.
It is another example of what it is that we do need to fix in Europe. And here it might be heatwaves, it might be water. In other places, it is floodings. It is droughts. In some places unfortunately it is all at the same time.
We will need to deal with that. That is done at a local, regional, national level.
By the end of this year, we will come up with our European plan to tackle this together while at the same leaving Member States space to decide how they tackle the challenges.
Third, on the international dimension. To put this into perspective, it is hugely important that we continue with climate action on European soil.
But the reality is also such that we are not only the fastest warming continent, as we were reminded of today, we are only responsible for 6% of global emissions.
If you add this up, you have no alternative than to make sure that you also tackle the 94%.
That is why international climate diplomacy is so hugely important.
The reality is while Europe is one of the leaders on climate action, and it is financing by far the most of climate action abroad, unfortunately solidarity and reciprocity do not always go hand in hand.
That has to change.
This is exactly why we are having this conversation.
How can we be as effective as possible; how do we move the frontier further for the sake of all those out there across the globe, but also because it is needed for all of us over here.
This is a first conversation. I am delighted that we will work during this Presidency and during the next Presidency on how to further articulate that. That will not be a one-off.
It will be a process that will be with us for years to come.
If Ive learned one thing on diplomacy, is that it is often intangible. It takes a long time, but it is imperative that, ultimately, we deliver.
Thank you.