2023-06-23 10:18:55
A summit to face the double challenge of poverty and global warming. Emmanuel Macron opened the summit on Thursday by pleading for a “public funding shock” to help the most vulnerable countries.
“No country should have to choose” between fighting poverty and protecting the planet, he said. “We have to take on a public financing shock” and “need a lot more private financing”, he stressed.
Questioned by France Info-RFI and France 24 this Friday morning, Emmanuel Macron defended the crucial role of this meeting, refusing that this summit is “one more” to save the planet. “The important thing is first of all to have brought together the leaders of all the continents. (…) We cannot solve any of its problems if the world is fractured. »
One more Summit?
This Summit is not a way to redeem oneself, refutes Emmanuel Macron. “Climate inaction (France was condemned in 2021 for having exceeded the ceilings for greenhouse gas emissions) was valid for 2015-2018, I remind you. Between 2017 and 2022 we doubled our emission reductions. We respect our emission reduction ambitions. France is 1% of global emissions. If we manage to decarbonize the aeronautics sector, we can be the champions of decarbonization. »
The Head of State mentioned an envelope of 100 billion dollars per year from the countries of the North to the countries of the South.
The just transition agreement for Senegal: “We will allow it to develop its gas projects because gas is a transitional energy. What we want to do is get the big emerging countries out of coal. a priority”, explains Emmanuel Macron. pic.twitter.com/LcLcTif646
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) June 23, 2023
“We must not put anyone in a position to choose”, on the question of gas in Africa. Emmanuel Macron defended the loan of 2 billion euros granted to Senegal. In exchange, the country must reach 40% renewable energy by 2030. “This should allow them to have a transition” while “developing in the best possible way”, assured the president.
“No one can succeed if we don’t win this joint fight. The countries of the South are lungs for the planet”.
The debt of African countries
Zambia, a major copper-producing African country, in 2020 became the first country on the African continent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to default on its external debt, which amounts to 18.6 billion dollars. . The restructuring of its debt, which had dragged on for years, was announced on Thursday. “We must have sustainable financing models”, defends Emmanuel Macron who rejects the principle of debt cancellation: “Good luck finding people who will lend you the money afterwards. »
Debt “if it exceeds a certain level” is “a trap” for countries in Africa, citing debt incurred with countries like China. “We must better remunerate the treasures of diversity”, these famous “tropical forests” in the countries of the South.
“When you are a country in extreme poverty, when you have a debt load that is too heavy, you have to restructure it. So we want to do it, we want to do it with our Chinese partners, and the presence of the Chinese Prime Minister (Li Qiang at the summit in Paris) is a decisive gesture of China’s willingness to participate in these debt restructurings”, had explained Bruno Le Maire this Thursday.
A climate ISF
How to finance this fight against climate change? “With 1 euro of public money, you need 1 euro of private money. “There is a lot of private money,” says Emmanuel Macron, who welcomes the money raised during the “One Planet Summit”, as organized in France in 2021.
Do we need a climate ISF? “For these subjects, yes, we need international taxation which finances this”, he insisted. The president also wants to tax global maritime transport in order to finance the climate transition.
“Help us find all the countries which today have no FTT (tax on financial transactions) and which today have no tax on airline tickets. Help us to mobilize at the International Maritime Organization in July for there to be international taxation”, launched the Head of State, stressing that “international taxation in a single country does not work” .
The absence of Russia
Can we move forward on these issues, without Russia, absent from the Summit? “This Summit speaks of Russia’s isolation. Russia must stop the war and respect international treaties, argues Emmanuel Macron. The resumption of dialogue is only possible if there is respect for international law. »
The French president accused Russia of being “a destabilizing power in Africa”, regretting that Moscow’s choices “do not play a beneficial role for the international community”. “It is a power to destabilize Africa through private militias who come to predate and extort civilian populations,” said the Head of State, recalling that “this has been documented by the United Nations in the Central African Republic through the Wagner militia”.
The Head of State, who confirms that he no longer has contact with Vladimir Putin, said he was open to a return to dialogue. “I have no reason to call him today. Ukraine is currently leading a counter-offensive (…) If he calls me to propose something, I will take it, because France has always been a facilitating power,” he says.
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