Andorra la VellaThe Secretary of State for Energy Transition, Transport and Mobility, David Forné, participated this Tuesday in the high-level plenary session at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) held in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. In the speech, Forné said that next year Andorra plans to update the commitments to reduce CO₂ emissions for the 2035 horizon. The aim is to be more ambitious and increase the reduction percentage compared to the levels of emission that Andorra reached in 2005, the highest point recorded in the Principality. “We understand that the achievement of the global objectives of the 2030 agenda, like the objectives of sustainable development, must be based on the multilateralism offered by this COP”, he pointed out.
With this update, Andorra aligns, once again, with the goals of the Paris Agreement to contribute to limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees. At this point, Forné recalled that the effects of climate change already have impacts on a global scale and also locally, especially in mountainous areas such as Andorra. The vulnerability of these territories is a reality widely identified by the scientific community, along with the recognition that the limits of adaptation in mountainous areas are increasingly evident and close.
At this point, the Secretary of State recalled that last winter was the warmest ever recorded in Andorra and for a mountainous country where the economic pillar is tourism “this is an alarming figure”. “As has been identified in the framework of cross-border cooperation through the Pyrenean Observatory of Climate Change, the increase in average temperature in the Pyrenees is higher than in its surroundings and reaches an increase of almost 2 °C from 1959”, he continued.
During the speech, Forné explained that Andorra was the first country to deliver the biannual transparency report (BTR), a fact that “underlines our dedication, and also our commitment to transparency and responsibility with action climate”. Delivering this documentation “is proof of our involvement with the principles of the Convention and a fundamental tool to measure our progress and, where necessary, adjust our policies to meet the objectives”. “We firmly believe that every country, regardless of its size and global impact, has a crucial role to play in helping to maintain the 1.5 degree target.”