Canada’s national statement at COP23: speaking notes of Stéphane Dion, Canada’s ambassador to Germany

November 16, 2017 – Bonn, Germany

Check against delivery. This speech has been translated in accordance with the Government of Canada’s official languages policy and edited for posting and distribution in accordance with its communications policy.

Canada salutes the Fiji presidency.

Small island developing states have a unique perspective on climate change as it poses a threat to their very existence. Rising ocean levels will threaten many countries and flood economically productive land.

Canada must show full solidarity toward small island developing states because Canada is a country with a great capacity for action, a country that is as big as a continent and which boasts the longest coastline in the world, and one of the few countries to be bordered by three oceans. Canada is a country that may also be affected and that will do its part in protecting the oceans.

Whether we see the devastating effects of climate change on the sea or on the lands, climate change is one of the greatest threats for all countries and we, at this COP, owe it to future generations to take resolute action on climate change.

Fortunately, we have an agreement—the Paris Agreement—upon which we build ambitious collective action.

Canada is stepping up at home.

We’re putting a price on carbon pollution across our country. We’re investing in urban transit, clean power, and electric vehicles. We’re strengthening building codes. We’re phasing out coal-fired electricity by 2030.

I’m thrilled that today, Canada, with our friend the UK, launched the Powering Past Coal Alliance. We need to further build on this momentum to accelerate the transition from coal.

I would also like to tell you about two additional priorities on which Canada has been working hard to deliver, here in Bonn. And I will spend the last minutes I have to highlight these two priorities.

First, the Gender Action Plan.

Our incredible team of negotiators—and I’m proud that so many of them are women—is working to better integrate gender considerations in decision making on climate, through the Gender Action Plan.

Canada is determined to further advance women’s participation in the fight against climate change. Canada is willing to share its experience about gender engagement, in the spirit of mutual learning, with other countries around the world.

Second, the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform.

We cannot miss this one. Canada is proud to work in close partnership with Indigenous Peoples from Canada and abroad, including here at COP, to advance the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform. Going forward, we remain committed to this platform, which will reflect traditional knowledge and strengthen Indigenous engagement on climate action.

To conclude, the next 12 months will be key for our fight against the climate. We look forward to the One Planet Summit, in Paris; the California Summit, in the fall; and of course COP24, to help accelerate our work together. Canada is hosting the G7 next year, and I’m happy to confirm that action on climate change and accelerating clean growth will be priorities for our presidency.

The momentum . . . the momentum is unstoppable. No one nation can derail it.

I myself had the honour of presiding over a COP: COP11, in Montréal, in 2005. I would therefore like to express my admiration for President Bainimarama. He has the enormous task of finding a consensus that will bring together no fewer than 196 parties for joint action to counter a threat that affects everyone and knows no borders.

In Montréal in 2005, we succeeded in a dramatic fashion, on the Saturday morning, a scenario that has repeated itself at several COPs since then. Let us hope that tomorrow evening will also end on a positive note.

I ask all delegations to give their full support to President Bainimarama for a positive outcome to this COP. He and his whole team fully deserve it, as do our Fijian friends, but more importantly, the world expects nothing less of us.

Thank you.