• Fellow Ministers and Cabinet Members
• Heads of Institutions 
• Development Partners and Private Sector Representatives
• Green Growth and Climate Resilience Focal Points 
• Distinguished ladies and gentlemen

Good morning! Mwaramutse! 

It is a pleasure to be with you today. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this important dialogue. While today’s discussion is hosted by the Ministry of Environment, we all share ownership and responsibility for green growth and climate resilience. That’s why it’s terrific to see so many people from diverse sectors with us. 

I would especially like to thank the Co-Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Sector and UNDP Country Representative, Stephen Rodriquez, for accepting to moderate our discussion. We are grateful for the contribution UNDP and other development partners are making to green growth in Rwanda and glad to have you as strong partners. 

For some time, we considered climate change a problem that would affect us in the future. We studied the models produced by the world’s scientists and hoped that we might somehow avoid the direst projections. Unfortunately, the world has not moved fast enough to limit the amount of warming gases in the atmosphere and we are now facing the consequences. 

In Rwanda, the impact has been tragic. Just this week, five Rwandan have lost their lives due to heavy rains and flooding. Thirteen people were injured and 42 houses destroyed alongside numerous roads and bridges. Since the start of the year, 51 people have been killed in weather related disasters. Without question, we need to build our resilience and time is not on our side. 

While not all extreme climatic events can be attributed to the warming of our planet, these events are more likely than not a result of the pollution we put into the atmosphere. 

That’s why today’s dialogue must be one of action. We can no longer afford to strategise without a clear plan of action. The climate challenge will continue to get worse unless we fast-track implementation of the green growth and climate resilience strategy, and shift our mindsets so that progress and development is viewed through the lens of climate action. 

During today’s discussion, I am hopeful we can review the current status and gaps of the strategy and devise a way to achieve the kind of implementation we need. Doing so will protect the development gains we have made and ensure all Rwandans live in a healthy and safe environment. 

We are also here to find solutions to the challenges we are facing in advancing green growth. A lack of robust baselines and staggered targets has made it difficult to implement the strategy. We have also seen a disconnect between the strategy and how finance is being directed. 

That said, we have also achieved remarkable progress in the way the country views environmental protection and puts climate resilience at the forefront of our socio-economic transformation. This gives us a strong foundation from which to work and should inspire our discussions today. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

As an active member of the international community and firm believer in the power of multilateralism, Rwanda is committed to global action on climate change. That’s why we are active in international climate negotiations and quickly ratified the Paris Agreement. As part of the agreement, Rwanda is obliged to submit a Climate Action Plan, also known as Nationally Determined Contributions or NDC. 

Our latest NDC, which we hope to complete by the end of this month, will be informed by the discussions we have today and we hope to receive your blessing on the interventions that have been proposed by your technical team in the NDC before we submit it to the Cabinet for final approval. 

I wish to conclude by thanking the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Focal Points who have worked tirelessly across a range of institutions to implement the strategy. We are grateful for your efforts and commit to providing greater support to you. 

Thank you once again for being with us. I look forward to a robust and meaningful conversation and to the tangible action that will result. The prosperity of our country and the health and wellbeing of our citizens depends on it. 

Together we can build a developed, climate resilient economy by 2050.
Thank you for your kind attention.