Monaco takes part in the high-level segment and closing session of the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai

COP28 ©DR

From 8-10 December 2023, Ms Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, travelled to Dubai to take part in the high-level segment of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).

She was accompanied by Mr Patrick Rolland, Deputy Director of the Department of the Environment, together with Ms Chrystel Chanteloube and Mr Carl Dudek, Head of Section and Editor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, respectively. Ms Berro-Amadeï represented the Principality at various high-level events, including a ministerial roundtable on mitigation and a ministerial dialogue on long-term climate finance. She was able to highlight the measures that have been taken in Monaco to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to reiterate the Prince’s Government’s determination to support developing countries to implement the Paris Agreement.

The Minister also represented Monaco’s historic advocacy for the preservation of marine ecosystems and called for recognition of the important role of the ocean in the fight against climate change, given the intimate link between climate crises, the ocean and biodiversity. 

This COP was an opportunity for Monaco to extend its support to several declarations and initiatives, on the links between climate and peace, and between climate change and health, for example. The Principality also signed the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge, in which it has committed, alongside more than 120 States, to triple global renewable energy capacity and double the rate of energy efficiency improvements between now and 2030.  It also endorsed the Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, and this despite a drop observed in funding for the adaptation of food systems.

The Conference closed on Wednesday morning 13 December after two weeks of intense negotiations. Among the major achievements of this COP are the creation of implementation mechanisms for the loss and damage fund for vulnerable countries hit hard by the effects of climate change. States Parties also reached a consensus on the adoption of the first “global stocktake” review of the Paris Agreement. This landmark decision acknowledges progress made and sets out various directions forward to ensure the ongoing attainability of the Agreement’s objectives. One of the recommendations to which Monaco is committed is the development of renewable energies and energy efficiency. Another, unprecedented, outlines a “transition away from fossil fuels” by 2050.