President Tebboune Urges Just Energy Transition at COP31

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in a message to participants at the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) in Antalya, Turkey, emphasized the critical need to confront climate change through cooperation, justice, and equity. He asserted Algeria's steadfast commitment to global efforts aimed at addressing this challenge, fulfilling its duty to future generations. The President highlighted that no single nation can tackle the climate challenge in isolation, advocating for collective action grounded in shared but differentiated responsibilities, which respects the developmental paths and sovereign conditions of all countries.

The President's address underscored that the first global assessment, a decade after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, revealed insufficient collective efforts to combat climate change, with significant gaps in both financing and emissions reduction. He stressed that a viable energy transition must be just, aligning with the principle of shared yet differentiated responsibilities and accommodating diverse national development trajectories. Algeria, facing tangible impacts of climate change on its water and food security, balances its people's aspirations for development and employment with its role in global emissions reduction, despite its modest contribution. The Algerian approach is clear: development and climate action are not contradictory, provided the transition is smooth, gradual, and receives the necessary international support stipulated by the Paris Agreement.

To this end, Algeria has made confronting climate change a core component of its public policies, reinforced by robust institutional and planning frameworks. The nation has embarked on concrete projects, including a nationally funded first phase program aiming to achieve 15,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2035, alongside the adoption of a national hydrogen strategy. Special attention is also being given to energy efficiency, the development of public transportation, and efforts to reduce gas flaring and methane emissions. Furthermore, Algeria continues to bolster its water security through desalination projects and the reuse of treated water, while also revitalizing the Green Dam project to combat desertification and foster rural development. These efforts are complemented by the completion of a national plan for adaptation to climate change, reflecting Algeria's comprehensive and proactive engagement. Notably, Algeria has submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution, targeting an unconditional 14 percent reduction in emissions by 2035, fully financed by national resources, with a readiness to increase this to 31 percent given adequate international support.