COP28: 4 key takeaways for the fight against climate change

The environmental protection of Papua New Guinea’s forests and the promotion of “greener” sources of social and economic development are priorities for the Government of Papua New Guinea. In July 2023, Expertise France signed a “Forestry, Climate Change and Biodiversity” project financed by the European Union. On this occasion, Emmanuel Macron announced that France would support the establishment of a “Country Package” for “forests, nature and the climate” in Papua New Guinea.

This programme was officially launched at COP28, in the presence of Mrs. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, Secretary of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, Mr. Peter Tsiamalili, Minister of Internal Security of Papua New Guinea, Mr. Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Union, and other partners of the country package (IUCN, FAO, WCS, ADB, Conservation International, AFD).

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marapé, commended the work carried out by the agency and emphasised the importance of developing these synergies to preserve the environment: “We are very appreciative of our collaboration with Expertise France in the context of the ongoing FCCB programme financed by the EU, which will provide technical assistance to strengthen our institutional governance and our public policies on climate change, biodiversity and forest conservation. It seemed natural for us to extend our current collaboration to the country package initiative through additional French funds, so that Expertise France can provide us with comprehensive technical assistance. As this initiative is highly strategic for Papua New Guinea, we want these activities to be as cross-dimensional and inclusive as possible, which will require strong inter-ministerial coordination under the direction of the Ministry of Environment.”

While the world is faced with the urgency of climate change and the need for sustainable development, the Twin Transition is poised to harness the potential of digital solutions to fight against climate change and its effects. Two of the pillars of this action are based on: support for innovation and appropriate funding, by providing innovators with an international platform to transform climate-related challenges into opportunities through the prism of green technology.

At the COP, Jérémie Pellet brought the voice of the Practitioners’ Network, for which Expertise France holds the co-presidency, and reiterated the issues at stake for the Twin Transition. This transition is made possible by the development of collaborative projects, bringing together all the members of Team Europe in a concerted effort to promote green technology innovations in countries of the Global South. Indeed, action to promote local and sustainable digital innovation is a crucial step towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, by helping to transform the technology sector in partner countries.

“With the far-reaching democratisation of digital tools, we are convinced that the private sector and entrepreneurs from the ‘South’ are best placed to capitalise on technology to design a multitude of innovations that can contribute to addressing the challenges,” said Jérémie Pellet during his address.

Expertise France is currently involved in the development of a Team Europe regional initiative on digital technology in Central Asia. This may lead to operational synergies for the development of small enterprises, similar to the support already provided to part of the East European Neighbourhood on structuring companies and incubators.

During a session focusing on strengthening the strategic framework for the green transition in Uzbekistan, Mr. Ilkhom Ibrokhimovich Norkoulov, the country’s First Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, stated that he wished to extend Expertise France’s support in the future to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, including for training and certification programmes, through other potential future projects focused on the private sector. Other prospects for the future included the desire to collaborate further with Uzbekistan on areas of operation concerning green urbanisation and smart agriculture.

“It’s a pleasure to meet in person the Chief Executive Officer of Expertise France, with which we recently started collaborating on the technical assistance programme for the green economy financed by AFD to support our Strategic Framework for Green Growth. COP28 has given us the opportunity to present Uzbekistan’s ambitions for mainstreaming climate change into our budgeting and procurement system and into our economic public policies. This will form part of the main activities conducted with the technical assistance of Expertise France thanks to French expertise, but that’s not all. We’re currently working on the development of our national platform with Expertise France, thanks to the expertise of CITEPA and Moroccan experts,” said the Uzbek Deputy Minister.

In terms of the technical assistance provided to Rwanda for the development of its climate budget, Jérémie Pellet held discussions with Francis Ngabo, Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Space Agency (RSA). The synergies in the space sector between Europe (especially France) and Rwanda are the result of Rwanda’s ambition to become a hub in Southern Africa, as a leading country both in terms of technology and the production of geospatial knowledge and data.

The Rwanda Space Agency (RSA) commended the fruitful collaboration with Expertise France, whose interest in the space sector has grown with each year that passes. “The opportunity to work with Expertise France with AFD financing has been a catalyst for the development of our agency. The study visit organised in Toulouse, France’s aerospace capital, has been a source of inspiration, enriching our prospects. The development focus on using spatial data is one of our priorities, with needs identified in the sectors of urban planning, agriculture, mobility, the environment, and disaster risk management. We wish to continue to work with Expertise France in this respect, in particular for private sector development, by promoting the use of geospatial data by existing companies and the creation of new companies.”

At COP28, Expertise France also signed the Charter of the Space for Climate Observatory with the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). The agency is working on several areas with Rwanda, including awareness-raising on the use of geospatial data for green and digital innovation, training and support for innovation hubs, and technical assistance for access to geospatial data platforms.

In addition, Rwanda is continuing to make progress with the design of an innovation hub. In this respect, at COP28, the desire was expressed to strengthen the collaboration with Expertise France, in continuation of the Fund for Technical Expertise and Experience Transfers (FEXTE) which is scheduled to end in 2024. Several avenues are being explored, between AFD, Expertise France and the EU, to make digital technology a national priority, and consider the feasibility of creating an international technical expert position at the Rwanda Space Agency.