Statement Made by Tanzania During the the High Level Segment at the Paris Climate Change Conference

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.