2018-12-03 10:41 update: 2018-12-05, 11:25
epa07205351 Swiss Federal President Alain Berset (C) is welcomed by Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General (L) and Andrzej Duda, President of Poland (R) at the beginning of the COP24 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, 03 December 2018. EPA/PETER KLAUNZER
In order to ensure that the transition to a low-emission economy is of a solidarity-based and just nature, social dialogue is necessary, President Andrzej Duda said at the COP24 climate summit, which started on Monday in Katowice, south Poland.
The Polish president presented the main theses of the Silesian Declaration on Just Transition, drafted by the Polish government, dedicated to ensuring a fair and solidarity-based transformation that will help to protect the climate while maintaining economic development and jobs.
Andrzej Duda emphasised in his speech that the Paris Agreement was born of a "responsible approach to dialogue," and in Katowice, thanks to the involvement of COP24 participants, it will receive specific guidelines. The president noted that the agreement sets the goal of finding a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and its absorption by ecosystems.
In his opinion, the Silesian Declaration complements the Paris Agreement with "an extremely important social aspect."
Andrzej Duda explained that a solidarity-based and just transition to a low-carbon economy means one that is centred around the human being, one that, along with the need to reduce emissions, takes into account the need to combat poverty, exclusion and social marginalisation and inclusion of vulnerable groups of citizens in the process of shaping public policies."
The president noted that dynamic climate change affects all areas of the globe. "Dynamic climate changes are one of the greatest threats of our time, in many places on the Earth we are witnessing dynamic, even extreme weather phenomena - these can be both more frequent and abundant rainfall or heavy heatwaves and droughts," Duda highlighted.
"Therefore, it is extremely important that in the face of the challenges related to climate change we cooperate in the widest possible coalition, including such bodies as governments and international organisations as well as civil society, businesses and trade unions. This synergy of cooperation between different actors can only be born through dialogue," said the president, urging the development of win-win solutions, where there are no losers. (PAP)
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