Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen – My name is Dr. Dionysia-Theodora AVGERINOPOULOU and I am Chair of the Environment and Energy group of the International Chamber of Commerce in Greece.

It is my honour to address you on behalf of the business and industry constituency at this meeting and to thank the Polish Presidency for hosting us here in Katowice.

Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, there has been an ever increasing number of commitments and actions across the private sector, from finance to investment, from agriculture to energy, from consumer goods to supply chains and operations.

These commitments and actions have come as business and industry prepare for the decades ahead, where the risks – and opportunities – of climate change must be factored into their own growth and development scenarios.

What has driven this ambition by the private sector is LEADERSHIP.

We are here at COP24 to ask YOU to also show LEADERSHIP. We are counting on you to demonstrate your leadership here in Katowice and deliver a robust Paris Rulebook that will send a strong  signal that climate change is high on the political agenda.

Business and Industry recognizes the complexity of the decisions that are to be taken by the COP. However, the magnitude of the consequences have never been clearer and you must achieve what you set out to do.

On this point, business and industry will rely on the IPCC report to help direct planning, investment and future operations.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen:

• The science is clear
• The will of all stakeholders is clear
• The signals from business are clear

We ask you to make the Paris Agreement truly historical and deliver the implementation guidelines that will allow it to provide guidance for the future, increase ambition and result in us achieving inclusive and sustainable growth today.