Speaking in Paris during the Climate Conference (COP21) yesterday, Monday 30 November 2015, President Danilo Medina defended the decision by the world’s leading nations to accept their historical responsibility for climate change and take on a new role before the international community. He said that the world had chanced since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997.
He stressed that the DR has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions from 3.6 tons per capita to 2.9 tons.
“For the country that I represent, the Dominican Republic, the consequences of climate change are not an intellectual exercise, but a challenge for our survival, a daily threat, therefore we are aware that the need to combat it is gathering more voices and finding more allies,” he said in his comments during the event.
He announced that the country’s goal was to reduce the level of greenhouse emissions by 25%, which includes moving towards the point where 32% of the national energy matrix is generated from renewable sources. He announced that the government was implementing mechanisms to encourage this investment.
“We trust that this meeting in Paris will help us achieve authentic climate justice and the Dominican Republic is ready to work in that direction,” stated the President.