Wednesday, November 3 2021 11:23

ArmInfo.According to the World Bank analysis, Armenia is the 4th most vulnerable country to climate change in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Armenia  has registered a 1.3 degrees Celsius increase in temperature and a 9  percent decrease in precipitation. President of Armenia Armen  Sarkissian stated this during his speech at the UN Climate Summit  (COP26) in Glasgow.

Thus, as the press service of the RA President reports, President  Sarkissian in his speech, in particular, noted: "Despite the  challenges by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict, we are committed to a stronger integration into the global  agenda on climate change and to demonstrating an increase in our  climate ambition.  Armenia has consistently expressed its commitment  to joining global efforts to combat climate change. In 2021, Armenia  reaffirmed our commitment through the Nationally Determined  Contributions and declared an objective of 40 percent reduction of  its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to the 1990 levels.   The long-term objective of Armenia is to achieve climate neutrality  in the second half of this century.

Transition to climate neutrality is at the core of the country's  energy independence, energy security and green growth policies.

Our vision of resilient and low-carbon growth is directly connected  to a solid and effective adaptation strategy based on an ecosystem  approach, reforestation, investments in renewable energy and energy  efficiency, new high technologies, promotion of electric mobility,  and further development of nuclear energy.

Dear colleagues, Substantial public debt burdens most developing  economies in their ability to access concessional and  non-concessional climate finance.

In this regard, a creative approach is crucial. I am delighted to  share with you our renewed "Debt-for-Climate Swap" Initiative. It  presents a new climate finance instrument. And it will help  developing countries to adapt more efficiently to climate change  finance and provide new economic opportunities.

Mr. President,

Exactly one year ago, during the war against Nagorno-Karabakh,  Azerbaijan used internationally banned weapons to target not only  civilians but also beautiful forests of the large area, causing  massive forest fires and creating environmental disasters in place.  We call on the international community to step up its efforts to  prevent such irresponsible and inhumane behavior.

The environmental challenges do not recognize borders and conflict  lines, and we should bring all states of the world into comprehensive  cooperation.

Now just a couple of words about this conference.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opening of the conference, enjoyed the  speeches of my colleagues from worldwide. Everyone confirmed that  there's the big problem:  climate change. But that's not the only  problem that we have these days because we are also facing pandemic  and economic difficulties worldwide; we are facing a rise of  populism, uncertainty, and unpredictability.

However, on the one hand, having all these problems, we have also  recognized here globally that there's huge wealth, and that wealth in  trillions of dollars could resolve the issue. On the other hand,  during the hundred years of development based on quantum technology  and quantum physics, we have achieved phenomenal achievements in  science and technology, and that technology today can resolve our  problems be that in climate changes, be that in Covid and other  problems that we are facing.

So, where is the problem? Why aren't we efficient enough? I think  there's one thing we should learn from the history of science when  100 years ago, great scientists, like Albert Einstein, Max Planck,  and Heisenberg realized that the classical laws of physics and  mechanics could not be applied to the newly discovered small  particles and atoms. You have to change your mentality, you have to  change your philosophy, your logic, and even your common sense to  understand and create the theory of quantum physics.

We are at a crossroads. The world has become quantum. This is a  crossroad that we have to start thinking differently because the  world that's ahead of us, is not the one that was there 10 or 20  years ago. If we change our mentality and form our ambition and  strategy, then we can effectively use the finances and the wealth  that the world created during this phenomenal development and use the  technology to handle the problems that we are facing. But not only to  resolve the problems but also to create the basis of development to  the brighter future years to come.

At the opening of this Summit, Professor Brian Cox took us to a trip  to Cosmos to see from the above how amazingly beautiful this Planet  is and to realize that in the whole Universe this is our Home and the  Only One and there is no other alternative for us but to work and to  fight for this Green and Blue Planet.  Armenia is committed to become  a really Smart State, devoted to our Nature, Planet, and Humanity.  And I'm optimistic that we can overcome these difficulties and build  a brighter future for all of us."