The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron arrived in PNG on his official state visit, last Thursday. In his visit, France President Macron engaged in various high-level discussions with government officials and Prime Minister James Marape.
The dialogues focused on the areas of Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Economic Co-operation, among others.
Following the Bilateral meetings, several agreements aimed at strengthening partnership and cooperation between the two nations were signed.
The first document signed between the two nations was a declaration of intent to upgrade of PNG Ports Infrastructure.
The agreement will ensure the PNG Ports infrastructures are upgraded with respect to climate change.
The second document signed will foster cooperation with respect to greening financial systems in PNG ensuring resilience to climate related risks as well as channelling finance for conservation and adaptation to climate change.
The agreement was signed between the French Development Agency, The Bank of PNG and Global Green growth Institute.
“That is clearly a demonstration of the French government and people and their continuous support to the Pacific, and more importantly to Papua New Guinea, a country that hosts the third biggest rainforest on planet Earth,” Prime Minister James Marape said.
The third document was a financing agreement between the two nations to mobilize French funding and expertise on energy transition to support renewable energy integration in PNG Power electric systems.
The Partnership amounts to over K3 million.
The fourth agreement was signed between the European Union Delegation to PNG and Expertise France for the implementation of European Union’s Forestry, Climate Change and Biodiversity nexus support program for PNG.
France President Macron concluded his engagements, by showing his support for the Managalas Project.
The Managalas Conservation Project covers over 360,000 hectares of Virgin rainforest.
The project is an initiative of the Managalas People to preserve their natural environment.
“It is a reflection of France and European Union commitment to biodiversity in our country,” Marape said.
The France President in his visit further thanked the European Union for their contribution to the Managalas Project.
He also spoke of the importance of preserving the world’s biodiversity, saying it is an equal partnership.
“I speak in my interest as well, and the interest of French people. Because if you kill your forests, then we will kill everything, so it is my issue as well.”
Related: https://insidepng.com/environment-conservation-and-land-management/ https://insidepng.com/capacity-building-for-environment-conservation/