Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
CLIMATE VULNERABILITY FORUM
ADDRESS BY NICARAGUA
Comrade
Comandante Daniel Ortega Saavedra
President of the Republic of Nicaragua
Brother Sheikh Hasima
Prime Minister of the Republic of Bangladesh
President of the Climate Vulnerability Forum
Dear Ministers, Vice Ministers, Heads of Delegations of the COP 26, friends.
1. We want to thank you on behalf of the People and Government of Nicaragua for the invitation to such a relevant Forum, in which we share common approaches to face the climate crisis.
2. The root of the problem is that the large capitalist economies, by means of their destructive models of Production and Consumption, have caused the “Climate Crisis” in an accelerated manner. Climate Change is now history, now it is a Climate Crisis, it is also a Planetary Crisis and a Crisis of Values due to a lack of Principles of Christian Solidarity.
3. We are in complex times, on a planet overloaded with pollution and our "Mother Earth" is dying because of savage capitalism. The concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest levels never before seen in the past 2000 years. We are at 420 Parts Per Million (the maximum level is 320 ppm); more than 59 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent are being emitted into the atmosphere (the maximum level is 14 billion) and we already have global temperature increases of 1.10 C.
4. Nicaragua said at COP 21 in 2015 that the Paris Agreement would lead us to a “Climate Crisis” because it did not represent a responsible commitment by those who cause climate change, nor did it ensure the means of implementation to protect our peoples. 6 years later, in 2021, it is confirmed by the first report by the United Nations scientists, indicating that global warming will trigger tipping points in the earth's natural systems, generating widespread and irrevocable disasters, unless urgent measures are taken by developed countries.
5. Nicaragua has not caused the Climate Crisis, neither has Central America, nor the countries that make up this Climate Vulnerability Forum, this is the historical responsibility of the large economies that apply consumption and production models that are based on the destruction and pollution of Mother Earth.
6. Therefore, we must uphold the Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capacities as the foundation of a Climate Justice and Reparation Policy.
7. The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity Nicaragua has historically been consistent in its policy of protection and defense of our mother earth; we were the first country to sign the "Universal Declaration of the Common Good of the Earth and Humanity" in 2010; and from the 2009-2011, National Human Development Plan, to the 2022-2026 National Plan Against Poverty and for Human Development, we have reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to the protection and defense of Mother Earth.
8. Nicaragua joined the Paris Agreement in 2017, assuming the commitment to strengthen the interests of the most vulnerable countries and align their policies, strategies and government instruments, in order to contribute to the goal of limiting global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
9. A few weeks ago, and as an effective demonstration of our commitment to climate goals, we have formalized our government's willingness to be a part of the Climate Vulnerability Forum, which I am currently addressing.
10. The political and financial efforts made by our countries are not and will not be enough, if the developed countries do not seriously commit themselves to changing their production and consumption patterns, in order to stop, just in time, the climate catastrophe that humanity is facing and that has been confirmed by science.
11. In the midst of the climate crisis, a new global public evil has erupted, the COVID-19 pandemic, which increases the vulnerabilities of developing countries, and in particular that of the Central American and Caribbean States, which are heavily hit by extreme and recurrent climatic events.
12. Both crises, the climate crisis and the health crisis, show the real and historical structural debts and inequalities between the North and the South, which are the main threats to promote actions to adapt to climate change and to fulfill the 2030 development agenda, to which our governments are committed.
13. Although Nicaragua's Greenhouse Gas emissions barely represent 0.02% of Global Emissions, our country is highly sensitive to the impacts of climate change, and the gap to face this vulnerability represents two billion dollars annually, according to an ECLAC study of the Economics of Climate Change, which cannot be solved without additional and incremental resources from Official Development Assistance.
14. It is extremely important to note that the 10 largest emitting countries represent 83% of global emissions, while the 100 countries with the lowest emissions represent only 3% and, among them, Nicaragua only emits 0.02% of global emissions.
15. In addition, we are currently facing the negative impacts caused by the failed coup of 2018, and the losses and damages caused by Hurricanes ETA and IOTA in 2020, which amounts to an estimated 30 billion dollars (2.3 times the nominal GDP of Nicaragua in 2020).
16. In these circumstances, all the efforts our Government to fight against poverty, which includes climate action as a fundamental pillar, will be compromised if a global commitment to climate justice is not achieved under the Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capacities, without unilateral and illegal coercive measures that do not contribute to achieving more significant progress before 2030.
Sisters and Brothers representing the States that make up the Climate Vulnerability Forum,
17. Nicaragua, in its tireless struggle to facilitate climate negotiations and peace in the world, submitted for consideration of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in the context of COP 26, four declarations that ratify the commitment of our Government, these are:
(a) An Urgent call to preserve and recover forests as the best way to face climate change;
(b) The Urgent need to raise financing to face losses and damages from extreme weather events, to the same level of importance as mitigation and adaptation;
(c) Declare Central America and the Caribbean as a highly vulnerable region; and
(d) Climate Justice with Reparations, according to historical responsibilities.
18. But we also strongly insist on the commitment of developed countries to provide financing to developing countries, which guarantees the transfer of technology and the strengthening of capacities to reduce the vulnerabilities that we face.
19. Such a Commitment must include a new collective financing objective after 2025, quantified based on the mobilization goal of 100 billion dollars per year and that must be promoted urgently.
Sisters and Brothers,
20. Although the financial gap to face the multiple vulnerabilities that afflict Nicaragua, represents at least two billion dollars annually, for our government the main tool is none other than the fight against poverty, which is valued together with climate action, as political priorities.
21. We will continue with sustained efforts to achieve good living for Nicaraguans, but we will continue to insist before the international community on the urgency of promoting climate justice and thus advance collectively and forcefully towards the achievement of climate objectives and compliance with the 2030 development agenda.
22. From this forum and at COP 26, in Glasgow, Scotland, our delegation will insist on the responsibility of developed countries to reduce emissions, as well as on the commitment to mobilize sufficient and predictable resources for the financing of adaptation measures, as well as for reducing the impact of losses and damages caused by extreme weather events.
23. But we will also provide what is necessary to prevent vulnerable states from being considered by foreign powers, as threats to their national security. Negative ratings and stigmatization do not allow for sustained progress in our adaptation and resilience efforts.
24. On the contrary, our States and their Governments, together, will manage to overcome vulnerabilities with transparent financial and technical cooperation, without conditions or unilateral coercive measures that only threaten the development objectives that we promote from our States, with sovereignty and self-determination.
Thank You.