Baku (Azerbaijan), November 16, 2024 - During the panel 'Raising Climate Ambition', organized by The Climate Reality Project at COP29 in Azerbaijan, former Vice President of the United States and environmentalist Al Gore praised Colombia's leadership in climate action and the organization of the COP16 on Biodiversity, and highlighted the work done by the country's Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad. In this regard, Al Gore highlighted: "She is not just any minister. She makes really sharp analyses and has bold ideas. I really like the way she expresses herself and the policies she undertakes, Susana”.
The panel, which focused on the urgent need for effective climate leadership and greater global ambition, also featured Mohamed Adow, founder and director of Power Shift Africa, and Mike Davis, CEO of Global Witness.
In this meeting, Muhamad underscored the need for international cooperation to overcome Colombia's economic and financial barriers, and highlighted the importance of financing adaptation and climate resilience in vulnerable communities.
In his remarks, Muhamad addressed the challenge of transforming the economy of a country dependent on fossil fuels, and acknowledged that Colombia faces economic and financial barriers that make global cooperation essential to ensure a just and sustainable transition. In addition, he stressed that the emergencies resulting from the heavy rains that have affected the country highlight the urgent need to finance adaptation and climate resilience. In this context, he stressed that international support is key to face these challenges and protect the most vulnerable communities.
“In a country like Colombia, facing that challenge means understanding that, as a coal exporter and oil exporter, if we do not change our entire economy, in 15 years our markets will be closed. And the impact that that will have on government tax revenues and macroeconomic stability is enormous. And we have to make a transition that is unprecedented in economic terms. That what takes decades to build will be built in less than two decades,” she said.
The former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore, recognized Colombia's leadership in climate action and the achievements of the COP16 on Biodiversity, in a panel that included the participation of Minister Susana Muhamad and important figures such as Mohamed Adow and Mike Davis.
Susana Muhamad spoke with Al Gore about the achievements of COP16
In response to how to accelerate climate reform at the COPs, the Minister emphasized the importance of a structural transformation: "The COPs must put people at the center and overcome the technocracy that disconnects the debates from reality. We need a global economic pact that addresses inequalities decisively."
In this regard, the minister also used the space to highlight some key achievements of COP16: the People's COP, which mobilized more than one million people and expanded the participation of indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities; the Peace with Nature coalition; the creation of a subsidiary body for indigenous peoples and local communities; and financial innovation, with the creation of the Cali Fund to finance conservation through private sector contributions and the use of genetic sequencing data.
The Minister also highlighted the great mobilization generated at the COP16 on Biodiversity and how it became the COP of the People.
“We had to organize from scratch, but we decided that the first step is that it was going to be the People's COP, and then the second is that we wanted to inspire people to make Peace with Nature and that slogan really achieved a mobilization that was historic for a Biodiversity COP. We tripled the presence of the private sector, we mobilized more than a million people through the Green Zone coming from diverse knowledge systems, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, peasants, activists, youth, but from the neighborhoods, not the typical COP in black suit and tie, but from the grassroots,” said Muhamad.
Minister Susana Muhamad's leadership reinforces her position as one of the most influential voices in global climate action, recently highlighted in the TIME 100 Climate list.