I’m not sure what time of day or night it is.  I’m not even sure what day it is right now.

But first of all – I want to thank you, the international media, for your important role in this process.

I said in the Plenary we needed a global green light signaling it’s all systems go on renewables, climate justice, and resilience.

On this front, COP28 delivered some serious strides forward. Progress has been made.

Tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency.

Operationalizing the loss and damage fund, and making an initial - an initial - down payment.

A framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation.

I will leave the commentary and the analysis of all of that to yourselves.

I will just say the many initiatives announced here are climate action lifelines, not the finish line.

What I’m focused on is seeing these pledges converted into outcomes in the real economy, where the rubber really hits the road on climate action.

COP28 also needed to signal a hard stop to humanity’s core climate problem - fossil fuels and their planet-burning pollution.

Whilst we didn’t fully turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this is clearly the beginning of the end.

At every stage climate action must stride forward side-by-side with human development, dignity and opportunities for all.

We’ve heard the concerns from Samoa and all island states.

Island States made it clear from the floor that this consensus does not go far enough to protect their populations and the planet.

The fact they received the longest standing applause is a clear indication these views are widely shared.

I also applaud this highest ambition, as I did in the plenary, where I also noted we are currently headed for just under 3 degrees. This still equates to mass human suffering, which is why COP28 needed to move the needle forward.

The text leaves a lot of room for interpretation. You heard the comments from the US Climate Envoy that the US is committed to the most ambitious interpretation of this text.

If all countries don’t take this approach, loopholes leave us vulnerable to fossil fuel vested interests, which could crash our ability to protect people everywhere against rising climate impacts.

Transparency and people holding their governments to account will be vital to closing these loopholes.

This agreement is an [ambition] floor, not a ceiling, so the crucial years ahead must keep ramping up ambition and climate action.

That’s why we’ll be getting on with the job of putting the Paris Agreement into full effect. We’re rolling up our sleeves. We have a great deal of work still to be done.

In early 2025, countries must deliver new Nationally Determined Contributions.

Every single commitment – on finance, adaptation, and mitigation – must bring us in line with a 1.5-degree world.

I’m happy to take a couple of questions.

Q: Do you truly believe with all the science you know of and all the expertise from the UN, that this is enough to keep us below 1.7?

A: This keeps 1.5 alive but only if all countries, all actors within this fulfill their commitments and follow the prescriptions that are laid out, both in terms of the response to the Global Stocktake, which highlights all of the elements, all of the tools that enable us to close that gap and ensure that 1.5 is reached.

Q: With reference to what you said the first day, would you say this baby is toddling, walking, or running?

A: Well as I said inside in terms of rating this, we needed a green light, we’ve got an amber light. So there’s still a great deal of work to be done, but there are paths forward. There are signals, very very clear signals for how we must move forward.

Q: Thank you for all the work that you’ve done. With now the elephant in the room being tackled - or beginning to tackle the elephant in the room. How committed is the UNFCCC to work with other parties from next COP and on, especially on financing?

A: We have a guiding star, guiding principles laid out in the Paris Agreement. And our role is to be the steward and the custodian to ensure that those terms - the direction that is given - is carried out, working with all Parties to ensure they fulfill their commitments and their contribution to climate action.

Q: Can we talk about consensus, when a group was not in the room?

A: I didn’t hear that sorry.

Q: Can we talk about consensus, when a group was not in the room?

A: There were no objections to what was gavelled so agreement has been reached.