New York, September 23rd, 2014/
The President of the Republic, Bujar Nishani took part today at the Plenary Session of the Climate Change Summit organized by the United Nations under the auspices of its Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and held an address about our country’s policies and strategy to face the challenges connected to climate change.
Following are the full remarks of the Head of the Albanian state:
“Distinguished President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank the UNSG for timely organizing this Summit. Indeed, addressing climate change impact into our future societal development has turned into a crucial matter requiring prompt action. Climate change by its very own nature, is a global phenomenon where each country responsibilities are very difficult to attribute to and were activities of one country affects largely the other countries.
Climate change serves as a threat multiplier and contributes to escalate conflicts over natural resources, hinder the economic development and increases pressures on international governance. The cost of not addressing climate change consists a serious threat to the stability of impacted states, as well is undermining progress towards achieving the MDGs. Since the climate change poses a global threat, we do share our firm believe on the need to combat climate change jointly, rather than from the perspective of a country alone.
Albania has constantly worked to live up to its obligations, as a Non Annex-1 country, and implementing an overall environmental protection policy. In line with the European Union membership agenda, my country is undergoing a comprehensive process of reforms, including improvement of national legislation, which takes climate change in consideration.
Accordingly, a new National Strategy for Development and Integration (NSDI) for 2014-2020 is being drafted. In this framework, there is a strong intention to mainstream climate change in sector strategies and introduce ‘Low emission development strategies’ (LEDS) as a path to sustainable development.
Albania is aggressively promoting the use of renewable energy throughout the country. Taking advantage of the country potentials, currently we are developing the market for solar water heating systems, wind energy, biomass and bio-fuels in addition to the hydropower. We are proud to use nearly 100 % of our generated electricity. A Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) structure is established and a carbon policy document is in place aiming at positioning Albania in a competitive manner in the global carbon markets, in general, and the CDM in particular.
In terms of adaptation, a pilot initiative is being implemented in Albania with UN support that resulted in integration of adaptation measures in local and regional development plans, meanwhile implementation of few adaptation measures is in process.
Concluding, let me reiterate Albania’s commitment to join the global action to address climate change issues, and offer its modest contribution towards carbon emissions reductions. We remain confident that UN member countries will use this Summit to express their commitments and take necessary measures, including a meaningful legal agreement in 2015, to speed up global action towards a law-emission future, where everyone has the chance of a sustainable life.
Thank you for your attention!”