Speech by the President of Finland at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday Sauli Niinistö said that after more than 40 years of debate on climate change, the world must act now.
"We have reached a point where we need to exceed our goals and promises. Change may seem incomprehensible, but only until we act. Combating climate change is one of our greatest human responsibilities," he said, adding that the effort costs money.
"Ensuring adequate climate finance is crucial. Finland is playing its part by almost doubling its climate finance in developing countries. By co-chairing the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, we also encourage the inclusion of climate action in national budgeting. There are many really effective measures in this area," he said.
"As an Arctic country, Finland is particularly concerned about the rapid warming of the Arctic region. Everyone else should also be concerned: if we lose the Arctic, we lose the planet. In the Arctic, it is essential to reduce black carbon and methane emissions," Niinistö said.
A transcript of this speech can be found here.
The role of forestry
In a speech earlier Tuesday, Niinistö spoke about the important role of forestry in combating climate change and biodiversity loss crises.
He also spoke at the World Summit on the important role of forests in Finland’s economic and social development.
"For Finland, this topic is especially close to the heart. Seventy-five percent of our area is covered by forests. Forests are in many ways our condition of life. They have been fundamental to our economic and social development – and perhaps one of the reasons why Finland is the happiest country in the world. In addition, forests will play a major role in achieving our climate neutrality goal by 2035." Niinistö said.
"Finland’s forest resources are constantly growing. The annual increase in forests has more than doubled since the 1950s. 150 million trees are planted in Finland every year. In a decade, that means more than a billion. In the EU, the goal is to double the number of trees growing each year from 300 million to 600 million." He said and added that Finland has shown that sustainable forestry can also be profitable and at the same time increase its positive climate impact.
Niinistö stated that a EUR 96 million program is currently underway in Finland with the aim of "to study and pilot climate mitigation and adaptation measures in the field of land use."
According to Reuters, more than 100 leaders from around the world vowed at Tuesday’s summit to halt and reverse forest and soil degradation by the end of this decade. Leaders backed the pledge with more than € 16.3 billion in funding from private and public sources for investment in protecting the world’s forests.
Leaders also promised to cut methane emissions from the greenhouse gas to slow climate change.
A transcript of this speech can be found here.