Dear colleagues,
The fight against climate change is the decisive challenge of our times.
Either we act now, addressing the costs of the transition and managing to get our economy on a more sustainable path, or we postpone action, paying a much higher price later and risking failure.
The latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that we need to make immediate, rapid and substantial reductions in emissions to avoid disastrous consequences.
Some of us are wondering why we are raising our climate target from 2 degrees to 1.5 degrees. Why? Because science says so.
We must heed the warnings from the global scientific community; addressing the climate crisis in this decade; and honor the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The shift to clean energy is key to achieving the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
We can no longer postpone all this.
This transition requires significant effort and governments must be ready to support their citizens and businesses through it.
But it also offers opportunities to stimulate growth, create jobs and reduce inequalities.
Both the public and private sectors must play their part.
Governments can set short- and long-term goals and ensure political, financial and regulatory stability. But they can’t do everything.
Private companies accelerate the deployment of clean technologies, foster innovation and promote large-scale manufacturing.
Public funding helps attract green finance and reduce the risks for private sector investments.
Public-private partnerships combine the two realities.
We must support private initiatives that incorporate social and environmental priorities into their production models, such as the initiative of His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, on sustainable markets.
The Italian Presidency of the G20 wants to relaunch economic growth and make it more sustainable.
We owe it to our citizens, our planet and future generations.
It is now my pleasure to give the floor to His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.
* (Speech by the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi)