Romania’s President delivered speech at the UN General Assembly

Climate change was the dominant theme that the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis approached during the debates of the UN General Assembly meeting.

Ştefan Stoica, 26.09.2019, 13:55

Romania’s national strategy on climate change has been conceived so as to create an economy with reduced carbon dioxide emissions, able to integrate climate policies through intelligent growth, said the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in his speech delivered at the UN General Assembly meeting. President Iohannis believes that climate change represents a global challenge, mentioning the drinking water shortage and food insecurity as well as the increase in the level of seas and oceans.

The Romanian President said Romania did not escape the collateral effects of these changes and expressed hope that it is not too late to have a safe planet where the environment is protected for our children. The Romanian official pleaded for concrete measures to be taken in order to meet the pledges assumed under the Paris Agreement and through the rules agreed upon in Katowice, including continued efforts to ensure that global temperatures don’t rise above 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

Through the National Strategy on Climate Change, Romania aims at achieving, by 2050, a society in which the economic, social and environment policies are interconnected and designed so as to ensure sustainable development, high living standards and a high quality of the environment, Klaus Iohannis went on to say. The president recalled that during its presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania promoted the EU agenda on climate change.

President Iohannis pointed out that transition to a climate-neutral economy was intensely debated within the EU and the Union’s long term strategy on climate change is to be soon finalized. He added that Romania responded to the appeal made by the UN Secretary General related to starting national initiatives in 9 concrete domains with a potential in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to intensifying global action aimed at adaptation and resilience.

Romania’s 2030 National Strategy for Sustainable Development sets the country’s action guidelines in this respect for the next 12 years. Drafted after a large-scale public consultation, the strategy reflects the Romanian society’s expectations and identifies the policies necessary for meeting the 17 Sustainable Development Targets. According to President Iohannis, creating sustainable development structures within the administration and setting up a coalition of civil society for sustainable development are some of the instruments envisaged by the authorities for accelerating and boosting national efforts in the field.

The president also referred to fighting terrorism, which killed several Romanian citizens, the most recent victims being in Kabul. Klaus Iohannis has condemned terrorist attacks in his speech, and reiterated Romania’s firm commitment to combating terrorism at international level by all means available. (translation by L. Simion)