08:10
STATEMENT BY H.E. BEGUM KARIM TAJ, AMBASSADOR OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF
TANZANIA TO FRANCE AND REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA AT THE UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CONFERENCE
(COP21/CMP11) PARIS,
FRANCE, 8TH DECEMBER, 2015
Your
Excellency, Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Development of France and COP 21/CMP11 President; Ms.
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change;
Excellences, Heads of Delegations;
Distinguished Participants; Ladies and Gentlemen.
I bring to you the greetings of the President of the United
Republic of Tanzania H.E. Dr. John Pombe Magufuli, newly elected and
therefore could not be here in person nor send a Minister as he doesn’t
have a ministerial cabinet yet. We also wish to express our solidarity
to the people and government of France following the tragic events
of 13th November 2015.
Mr. President;
The challenges of climate change to a country like Tanzania cannot be
over emphasized. They range from sea level rise threatening the
inundation of small islands across the coast of Tanzania mainland and
Zanzibar to the melting of the ice cap of Mount Kilimanjaro, with dire
consequences for water availability to downstream communities. Recent
estimates during the preparation of our INDCs we have shown how climate
change currently leads to economic loss of about 1% of the GDP and
that we need not less than 500 million USD annually and over 1 billion
USD by 2030 to address adaptation needs. Despite our vulnerability, we
have undertaken various efforts on our own to address the impacts and we
are ready to do more in terms of adaptation and mitigation provided we
are supported in terms of finance, technology and capacity building.
Mr. President;
With 53.28 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves discovered, Tanzania is
committed to enhance the use of natural gas which is a less emitting
source of energy and other clean energy sources including geothermal,
hydro, wind, solar as well as clean coal to ensure energy security for
sustainable economic development. We will however need enhanced
technological support and finance to the tune of 60 billion USD annually
up to 2020 in the mitigation area to pursue this trajectory. With 48.1
million hectares of forested land, the country has an estimated total of
9.032 trillion tones of carbon stock, thus making the country a net
carbon sink. We are still committed to continuously conserve these
biomass assets for the benefit of the country and local communities
and at the same time supporting the global efforts to mitigate climate
change.
Mr. President;
In our submitted INDCs, the implementation of our actions will strongly
depend on how the international community responds to our needs in
terms of finance and technological support. Water, Agriculture and
coast resources are our adaptation priorities in the INDCs. It will not
be easy to implement these and the mitigation priorities in the INDCs as
well as other climate challenges and pursue her economic development
without international support. We therefore call upon all parties in
accordance with the provisions of the Convention as well as various
partners to support our efforts in the context of our national
development agenda including for the implementation of the INDCs. We
commend Parties that have offered their pledges to the Least
Developed Country Fund, the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund
and we seek increased capitalization of these funds to be able to meet
their intended objectives.
Mr. President;
Tanzania underlines that the Paris agreement should be of a global
nature and reflect the objective of the Convention and its
Principles. It should not pose additional burden to developing countries
that still need to grow and reduce poverty. It should enable developing
countries to make smart choices that will allow investments over the
next decades in climate resilient and low emission development pathways
that can contribute to vibrant societies, robust economies and healthy
environment. The principles of the Convention should remain our beacon
as we navigate our way towards a new agreement within these remaining
few hours so as to address climate change in a more just and inclusive
manner. The agreement should catalyze action that will keep temperature
increase well below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century to
keep the world relatively safe.
We look forward to a constructive engagement of all parties and we assure you of our commitment.
I thank you.
