Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate, Net-Zero and Clean Growth at the Economic Commission for Europe (2025)

© EU Delegation Geneva

Transcript of the video message:

• Thank you for allowing me to be part of the discussion, even if only virtually.

• Infrastructure is key, both for decreasing emissions and be prepared for climate risks.

• If we design infrastructure to be climate-resilient and secure, it can contribute to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Unfortunately, climate risks to infrastructure are high, and they will increase.

• This is shown by the IPCC’s reports and by the European Climate Risk Assessment.

• We know that the world is failing to keep pace.

• Heat, floods, droughts, landslides and other climate-related hazards not only threaten critical infrastructure but also disrupt essential services.

• Without upgrading our infrastructure, social systems, economies, climate damages will outpace our capacity to rebuild year after year.

• To avoid that doom loop, climate resilience must be embedded in everything we do.

• It needs to be a part of acomprehensive and coordinated approach across governments.

• This is the vision we are outlining in our Preparedness Union Strategy.

• A key concept for our work is to make our infrastructure and our future spending “resilient by design”.

• Buildings need to resist to climate threats of the next 10, 20, 50 or 100 years.

• Given the nature of climate vulnerabilities, we need a plan at all levels: local, national and international.

• And to do this effectively, we must keep learning from each other.

• The EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change plays a crucial role in supporting regions and local authorities in their efforts to build resilience.

• By providing financial, scientific, and technical assistance, the Mission is helping communities across Europe prepare for the impacts of climate change.

• Thanks to the UN Economic Commission for Europe platform, we can continue our pan-European collaboration to promote the exchange of best practices, regulations and international legislation.

• Cooperation brings incredible value.

• It accelerates progress towards our climate goals.

• We have set the path forward and the policies to deliver them, and now it is time for action, collaboration, implementation.

• In this geopolitical climate, we must continue to find ways to work together across borders.

• Because as we know, climate change knows no boundaries.

• The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has set us back on the fight against climate change, destroying key infrastructureand exacerbating vulnerabilities.

• It has also broken-down relationships.

• But I want to assure you that EU remains steadfast in its commitment to climate action,despite shifting global dynamics.

• We are supporting smart, clean and secure infrastructure development worldwide through the Global Gateway strategy, integrating nature-based solutions, smart technologies, and low-carbon materials, in Africa, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

• We are mobilising up to 300 billion euro of investments,using public funds to crowd in private investments, prioritising projects that align with the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

• We focus on renewable energy, sustainable transport, and climate-resilient projects, because infrastructure should contribute to reducing our carbon footprint, not contribute to it.

• More than ever, we need to continue to collaborate. We cannot achieve these goals in isolation.

• I wish you all a fruitful discussion today.