Covid-19 recovery and the fight against climate change must go hand in hand

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - On the 12th of December – on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement – a number of world leaders came together to recognise and encourage the resolve of so many men and women in working towards a safer, more resilient world with net-zero emissions. A world we can be proud to leave to our grandchildren, Kazinform has learnt from the Delegation of the European Union to Kazakhstan.

During the past five years, the determination of the international community has been tested, and in the last year our global community has been hit by a virus, which will have long-lasting impacts on our society and economies.

In the midst of the pandemic, is it realistic to call for stronger global action to fight climate change? We say the case is now more pertinent than ever.

Already before the pandemic, the European Union had committed itself to leading a green transition. Back in December 2019, the European Commission launched the European Green Deal – a new growth model and roadmap to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. Now, a year later, we are adapting our policies in areas like energy, industry, farming food production and biodiversity in line with our sustainability goals.

This is now the EU’s action plan for recovery from the pandemic. Our «Next Generation EU» recovery package and our next long-term budget earmark more than half a trillion euros to address climate change.

To reach climate neutrality by 2050, EU leaders unanimously agreed on our 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels. Achieving the 55% target will even help us to save € 100 billion in the next decade.

Already, the ranks of the «net-zero club» are growing. Japan has joined the EU and has adopted the 2050 climate neutrality goal, and others aim to achieve net-zero emissions around mid-century (South Africa, South Korea and China), with important details to be further clarified. Canada announced a new law on climate neutrality and President-elect Biden has indicated that the US will move in the same direction. The international community certainly also welcomes Kazakhstan joining «the club» : speaking to the ‘Paris + 5’ Climate Ambition summit on 12 December, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan will reach carbon neutrality by 2060 as part of the nation’s strengthened national climate plan.

During the same online Summit, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: «We want to work with all those who agree that we must put a price on carbon. We are ready for more ambitious commitments with like-minded countries.»

We all know that no government can tackle climate change alone. This is why we use all avenues of cooperation and diplomacy through instruments such as strategic partnership agreements, trade policy, development assistance and other external financing tools. We need a virtuous circle for ambition.

In Central Asia, the EU is continuing to provide financial support for enhanced cooperation on climate change, environment, energy and water resources management through various programmes. This includes the Water, Environment and Climate Change Cooperation Programme (WECOOP), the Central Asia Water & Energy Programme (CAWEP), the Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus Dialogue, and the EU Water Initiative National Policy Dialogues on water.

We encourage Kazakhstan to continue developing the low carbon strategy with the wide participation of scientists, experts, businesses, NGOs and foreign partners, including the EU. With its resources and ambition, Kazakhstan could become a regional lighthouse for the transition towards climate neutral and resource efficient economies.

Net zero emission is becoming the new norm. Together with the delivery of the $100 billion of climate financing to developing countries, these must be the deliverables for the climate negotiations when they resume at COP26 in Glasgow next November.

These last years, the EU continued to lead the fight against climate change, but five years after the signing of the Paris Agreement, it is more important than ever that we all come forward with clear strategies for net-zero emissions and enhance our level of ambition for 2030.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made us all aware that good public policies alone are not enough. We will also need to foster small individual actions to attain a big collective impact. This is the snowball effect we need starting from the Paris Agreement. With climate neutrality as the direction of travel, the world can mobilise its best engineers, businesspeople, policymakers, artists, academics, NGOs and citizens to protect together something we all share beyond borders and species: our planet.

OpEd signatories:

H.E. Mr Sven-Olov CARLSSON, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the European Union to the Republic Kazakhstan

H.E. Mr Pasquale D’AVINO, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to the Republic Kazakhstan

H.E. Mr Milan KOLLAR, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic to the Republic Kazakhstan

H.E. Mr David Arturo CARRIEDO TOMÁS, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Spain to the Republic Kazakhstan

H.E. Mr André CARSTENS, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Netherlands to the Republic Kazakhstan

H.E. Mr Boyan HADJIEV, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic Kazakhstan

Mr Adelino Vieira da Cunha DA SILVA, chargé d'affaires en pieds of the Portuguese Republic to the Republic Kazakhstan

H.E. Mr Branko RAKOVEC, Moscow-based Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Slovenia to the Republic of Kazakhstan

OpEd by EU Ambassador to Kazakhstan Sven-Olov Carlsson