At the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, French President Emmanuel Macron urged world leaders to avoid “dividing” on issues such as environment and war.

Addressing world leaders, Macron said the world should not compromise its climate commitments because of Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has not only carried the war to European territory, but also brought uncertainty and tension to the world. It has brought difficulty after difficulty, especially in the African continent and around the Mediterranean,” Macron said.

Stating that the Ukraine crisis is one of the priorities that many countries should focus on, Macron said, “But at the same time, we see that many states are affected by the consequences of the climate crisis. We must show that the climate emergency is really here and working well.”

Macron said that European countries and rich countries, especially France, should comply with their national strategies to reduce carbon emissions, and that plans to reduce emissions by 55 percent by 2030 should be based on “energy sobriety, the accelerated development of renewable energies and solutions that will help the transition from fossil fuels and nuclear energy”.

“We have to come to terms with the concept of financial solidarity. We need to help channeling $100 billion a year so that less affluent countries can adapt to climate change,” he said, adding that helping developing countries do this should also be a priority for developed countries.

He also announced that France would not support any seabed exploration.