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H.E. Mr. Gem Tshering, Hon’ble Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Bhutan,
H.E. Bolivia [TBC]
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,

It is an honor to address this inaugural meeting of the Landlocked Developing Countries on the Global Climate Agenda.

I commend Bolivia for its leadership this year in establishing the LLDC Group under the UNFCCC. 

This is a historic achievement. It gives the 32 LLDCs a stronger, unified voice in global climate negotiations.

I express my sincere appreciation to the Royal Government of Bhutan for assuming the role of Coordinator on Climate Change for the LLDC Group. 

Your leadership comes at a critical moment for our collective efforts.

This progress marks an important step forward in delivering the commitments of the Awaza Programme of Action for LLDCs (APOA) for the decade 2024–2034. 

For the first time in the history of Programmes of Action for LLDCs, the APOA recognizes climate change as a dedicated priority area with concrete targets and commitments. 

This reflects the urgency of the climate crisis for LLDCs and the recognition of their unique vulnerabilities.

Excellencies,

The challenges are indeed stark. 

The 600 million people of the 32 LLDCs confront a combination of geographic, economic, and institutional constraints that amplify their climate risks.

Over 54% of LLDC land is dryland, and 60% of the population lives in these areas. 

Forest cover is just 16%, half the global average, and declining. 
Eleven LLDCs are projected to face high to extremely high-water stress by 2050.

55% of the workforce in LLDCs depends on agriculture, compared to 25% globally, making livelihoods highly climate-sensitive. 

Hydropower provides 44% of electricity; yet is increasingly disrupted by droughts and floods.

Between 2012 and 2023, LLDCs suffered 20% of global droughts and landslides, affecting 180 million people. In 2022 alone, 40 million people in LLDCs were impacted by droughts.

These realities underscore the distinct vulnerabilities of LLDCs within the global climate architecture and the need for targeted action.

Excellencies,

This inaugural meeting of the LLDCs as a negotiating Group at COP is a clear opportunity to articulate and elevate their collective priorities. 

Allow me to highlight four key points:

First, it is highly important to effectively leverage the unified strength of the LLDC Group. 

A consultation draft for a Group Charter has already been prepared. I encourage you to finalize this Charter, establish operating modalities, and create a functioning network of LLDC climate focal points. 

Securing resources for a dedicated Secretariat to support these efforts will be critical.

Second,  the Group must be utilized as an institutional framework to articulate and address the LLDCs specific climate priorities, building on the APOA. 

The APOA structures actions and support for the LLDCs in the areas of climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, climate finance, resilient infrastructure development, loss and damage, and biodiversity loss.

Furthermore, climate challenges have also been integrated in other focus areas, commitments, and deliverables of the APOA.

For instance, the Infrastructure Investment Finance Facility – a key deliverable of the APOA – has a specific focus on climate-resilient infrastructure, especially for transit corridors and energy systems. 

COP30 offers an opportunity to map out these APOA climate commitments and leverage the Group’s unified platform to advance them.

Third, it is important that the specific needs of LLDCs are reflected in climate finance, including for adaptation.

Eleven LLDCs are in or near debt distress, and only 11% of global climate finance reached LLDCs between 2016 and 2021—most of it for mitigation, not adaptation, even though LLDCs contribute just 2% of global CO? emissions. 

We need scaled-up, predictable, additional and concessional finance for adaptation, building on the New Collective Quantified Goal and the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund.

Finally, COP30 must conclude with a strong LLDC Group statement to build visibility and reflect collective priorities and a vision for the Group.

Excellencies,

We meet at a time of unprecedented momentum for the LLDC agenda.

The LLDC3 Conference in Awaza, Turkmenistan, in August galvanized global attention for the LLDC agenda.

Ministerial meetings at FFD4 and UNCTAD16 reinforced the visibility of the LLDCs across global finance and trade platforms.

And looking ahead, COP32 will take place in Ethiopia—an LLDC—offering a unique opportunity to spotlight our climate agenda on the global stage.

This is the moment for the LLDCs. As a group of 32 countries and 600 million people, the Group must raise its voice louder and more effectively to ensure LLDC-specific priorities are represented. 

OHRLLS stands ready to continue to support the LLDCs in these efforts, and in coordinating the implementation of the commitments of the APOA.

Let us seize this moment to ensure that COP30 and the broader multilateral system deliver hope, resilience, and a more sustainable future for all LLDCs.

Thank you.