Skopje, 19 September 2021 (MIA) – At the upcoming COP26 climate conference in November, the main aim is to get world leaders together to commit to the actions from the Paris Agreement. The COP26 in Glasgow will bring together leaders and delegations from all over the world, including North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski, British Ambassador Rachel Galloway, whose country will be co-hosting with Italy this year’s COP26, says in an interview with MIA. She points out that the next COP26 isn’t for a new negotiating treaty, it’s for countries to come forward and show how they’re really going to deliver on commitments in terms of what was agreed at Paris, because at the moment, we’re failing to meet those commitments and temperature will rise above 1.5C. Ambassador Galloway also told MIA about measures taken by the British government in tackling climate change, how developed countries are helping developing countries achieve green development, and in this sense the British support for environment protection in North Macedonia. In the interview, Galloway also talks about North Macedonia’s NATO membership, strengthening relations between the country and the United Kingdom, as well as the countries integration in the European Union which is currently blocked due to the dispute with Bulgaria. Following is the interview in full. Glasgow in November hosts the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Co-organized by the United Kingdom and Italy, what will be the main direction of the conference? Who is also scheduled to be in attendance?   - So, the United Kingdom will be co-hosting COP26 in November in Glasgow. The main aim of the conference is to get world leaders together to commit to the actions from the Paris Agreement six years ago to keep world temperature rise below 1.5C to show how they’re going to deliver on the commitments on net zero carbon emissions and to show how countries are going to push past coal. We’re expecting leaders and delegations from all over the world and we were very pleased that President Pendarovski has also confirmed his attendance. Do you expect any turning point to result from the negotiations at this year’s Glasgow conference? What goal should be met in order COP26 to be considered successful given the fact that at the last event the member countries failed to come to an agreement on final implementation of the Paris Agreement?   - What we’re looking for at COP26 it isn’t a new negotiating treaty, it’s actually for countries to come forward and show how they’re really going to deliver against what was agreed at Paris, because at the moment, we’re failing to meet those commitments and temperature will rise above 1.5C. The main areas we want to see people make new commitments on are adaptation and mitigation and come together to show what the rulebook will be. So, what will success look like – success will look like that there are agreed documents that come out that show what we’re all going to do together, but that actually countries have also set out their individual commitments, as well. How is your country tackling climate change and what are the three key measures for adaptation and mitigation taken by the British government?  - So, last year, my Prime Minister announced a really ambitious climate action plan with 10 points around green energy, green finance, green jobs, transport - a whole range of sectors. He has said that we will be putting GBP 12 billion into this strategy, we expect it to create 250,000 new highly skilled green jobs, but we also expect it so create and bring in at least three times that much in private sector investment. We were the first country to sign our climate ambition commitments into law, so it’s now set in law that we’ll reach net zero by 2050 and we’ve set targets along the way. One of the other sort of really big commitments is our international climate finance facility which is about how were’ going to fund climate change action internationally and work with our partners to really change the way people are investing in fossil fuels and are adapting and mitigating some of the impacts we’re already seeing from climate change. That’s our ambition, that’s our high level action, but for it to be effective we actually need other countries to be taking those actions as well. Have you introduced or are you considering introducing carbon tax?  - What we’ve introduced in the United Kingdom is called the UK ETS - United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme. We used to be a member of the European Union and this is not so much a carbon tax, but we call it a carbon trade policy, so what happens is for certain greenhouse gasses, in certain sectors, we set a target for how much the emissions can be each year and we will be decreasing that level over the years and we expect this to play a huge part in us reaching net zero. What is the plan of large multinational companies that produce fossil derivatives and largely contribute to carbon pricing?  - As chair of the COP one of the things that we’ve been doing is working with the United Nations and others on the Race to Zero campaign, which is a campaign about working with companies and different sectors to get them to commit to some of the changes needed, because you’re right – we won’t be able to deliver the targets if the private sector aren’t involved. Actually, now we have thousands of companies worldwide have signed up for it - over 700 cities, academic institutions and businesses. And it’s really easy to sign up to it and over the past few months, we’ve had really good meetings with different sectors here – transport, big businesses, about what they’re doing for climate adaptation. The fact is that businesses are making some of the changes already. They’re moving to renewable energies, they’re learning what their own carbon emissions are, they have these strategies. But, as countries try to make the changes by 2050, the only way these companies are actually going to be economically viable is if they make changes as well and are able to operate in what will essentially be a relatively different business environment worldwide. How are developed countries helping developing countries achieve green development since most of them have already used the carbon credit and have strong economies, access to energy and high standards while the countries at risk of climate change are yet to meet these standards under stricter conditions?  - One of the commitments of Paris was for climate finance to be provided by the developed countries for the developing countries, so that they could adapt and mitigate and put into practice the policies needed to adapt for climate change. That commitment was for USD 100 billion each year. What we need at COP is countries to come forward and show how they’re now actually going to meet that commitment. We’ve doubled what we’re giving, we’ve set out how we’re going to do that. We also need COP to take a second step, which is that the developing countries have come together and they’ve asked for also as well as this fund a long-term finance facility and what we need to see at COP is an agreement on how we’re going to fund that. The British embassy has been supporting projects for environment protection in the country. It has been supporting the Clear It Up campaign, which has been joined by many institutions and media outlets. Has it produced any effect or is it yet another project that will be closed while awareness will remain the same. Water is only an aspect of environmental protection, have we cleared it up?  - I think it’s a really important campaign and something people care about. People know that lakes are an integral part of the beauty of this country and they care about them, they care about them as a natural resource, not just an energy source. I think the campaign has achieved a couple of things, I think the fact that so many organizations have gotten involved with it and have publicized it, has raised awareness. I think the fact that the government has used it as part of its consultation with the environmental alliance to form the new law on water and the new laws on mineral resources is incredibly important. But, there’s still more to be done. There needs to continue to be consultation with the widest range of stakeholders and then of course, the real test is going to be in implementation and we have another project on environmental governance, where we’re working with the council for legal research about looking at these laws, how they’re implemented, what more can be done to ensure that people actually take criminal action where criminal acts have occurred and taking it forward that way will start to genuinely clear it up. A public debate has been held as part of this project where participants debated whether the new law on minerals is protecting completely the environment. What is your opinion about the legislation, has the Economy Ministry offered the best solution?  - As I said, I think one of the really positive things has been the consultation. I think what we’ve seen of all the reforms, the best ones, have been the ones where the government and institutions have involved the civil society sector and the experts. That is a good starting point. But, the test again is going to be around implementation and I think what we need to see now is transparency and accountability. So, people need to be able to see now how the ministry grants concessions in this area and then the stakeholders will be able to hold the government to account. What are the other spheres where you support environmental protection?   - Through our Good Governance Fund, we have supported the development of the energy strategy and the work on the implementation of the energy strategy, and we’re really impressed by how the government has set out how it’s going to move forwards towards green and sustainable energy future. We’ve also worked on the areas of awareness raising, working with smaller NGOs, we have a new project about to start called “Hotels for Bees” - it’s about how to get bees back into the environment, we held a sustainable fashion show earlier in the year and are continuing our work with the textile industry, because that’s an industry which does have an impact, particularly around waste. In terms of positive news, it was good to see the new waste laws were passed in Parliament this week. North Macedonia is NATO’s 30th member state, we are allies in the world’s largest military and political alliance. In July, you and the defence minister signed a memorandum to coordinate training at Krivolak military base to strengthen the capacities of North Macedonia’s Army. What does this cooperation include? Has military cooperation, and maybe cooperation in other spheres as well, strengthened after the country joined NATO? - We really were obviously a strong supporter of North Macedonia becoming a full member of NATO and it was a great success and we were very pleased to be signing a memorandum of cooperation earlier this year. A lot of the work we’ve done over the last couple of years has been focused on helping North Macedonia become NATO ready and particularly through training of the light infantry brigade, which North Macedonia will be providing as a part of its commitments to NATO. In Krivolak we’re supporting a variety of training, new targetry, support for both infantry and special forces training and we’ve also brought into the country the Land Coordination Cell, but that’s about having a permanent UK military presence here to help understand the training needs, both here and wider in the region and then to help set out how we can support and build that support going forward. Has our cooperation been at all strengthened after the country joined NATO? - We’ve brought into the country a full time, one-star transformation adviser, so he’s been working with the Ministry of Defence and the military on what more can be done in all sorts of areas of NATO readiness. We have the whole range of activities at Krivolak, next year we’ll have the UK Air Force training alongside soldiers here in North Macedonia, as part of some of the big exercises and we’re also about to start a project where we’ll be working with the Ministry of Defence on human resources and administration reform which fits in some of the wider work we’ve been doing more broadly with the government over the last few years. We are part of NATO, but the EU perspective is not yet in sight especially after being blocked due to the dispute with Bulgaria. We expected to start negotiating, but now our identity and language is disputed. Is this a weakness of the EU or of the EU hopefuls?  - I think the first thing to say is to note that North Macedonia has spent an enormous amount on the reform agenda, from tackling corruption, rule of law and it’s because of this that North Macedonia is a member of NATO and has had strong recommendations to start the accession process, to open the accession negotiations with the European Union. We have always supported strongly North Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic ambitions and we believe that the candidate country should be assessed on the criteria and they shouldn’t be stopped by bilateral disputes. I would note however that North Macedonia has actually showcased itself as a leader in the region, in fact the wider region, in the approach it’s taken to bilateral disputes and I hope that things will be resolved quickly, but in the meantime, the most important thing North Macedonia can do is continue delivering on reforms not for the EU but because they improve the lives of their citizens and that’s what matters. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the declaration of independence. As we have been fostering mutual cooperation for years, which areas have been set aside by your embassy to support North Macedonia and the region as well?  - It’s been a real pleasure to celebrate 30 years of independence with the 30th member of NATO. We’ve had long-standing cooperation in a range of areas and I think our priorities are aligned with those of the country so we’ve been focusing on support for rule of law, good governance, public administration, and as we’ve already discussed in this interview, we’ve been doing a lot on the environment as well. I think those are the areas we’ll continue to work in with the government, NGOs and partners. We’re also working with the large international institutions, the United Nations, the World Bank, on really important issues, such as tacking gender-based violence and also a huge project for the next 20 years on the development of a national development strategy. Regionally our focus is very similar but we also have some really good projects going on across the region on rule of law and the independence of the media and I think these will all be areas we’ll continue to focus on going forward. What is your opinion about the bilateral business cooperation, is there room for more to be done? - I think that the bilateral business and trade relationship is a fundamental part of our relationship so in 2020 the trade exchange with North Macedonia and the United Kingdom was GBP 1.4 billion. For the United Kingdom, North Macedonia is our largest trading partner in the Balkans and I think it accounts for 60% of our trade, but we think that there’s a lot more that can be done and we can really build on that cooperation in a range of areas. So we’ve put a lot of time and effort into that, we agreed and signed a new partnership and cooperation trade agreement at the end of last year and we’re continuing to work on that, we appointed a trade envoy for the region, which is Martin Vickers, MP, who I hope will be visiting here later this year and we also appointed a trade director in the Embassy here in Skopje. All of these people, all of these issues give us the opportunity to really focus on where we can see new opportunities for cooperation and actually there’s a whole range of them, but we look at the opportunities for green finance, UK export finance facility where we can really increase some of the skills exchange that we’re already seeing now, but also work with the government on opening access to markets and ensuring an equal, fair play field. Has your exit from the EU had any impact on trade in a positive or negative sense? - The most important thing for us was that it didn’t have any negative impact, we wanted to use it as an opportunity and that’s why we negotiated the TCA and the important thing is that it came in advance of any changes. For us that’s been really positive and we’re working with firms to find new opportunities and new ways of working with us. The British Embassy has been awarding Chevening scholarships. When is the deadline for this year’s applicants and what does a scholarship offer?  - Applications are open now, they close on November 2. They offer an opportunity for citizens of the country to go to the United Kingdom, study at our best universities to do a one-year post-graduate studies course. We’re looking for future leaders, change-makers, people who want to go and learn in the UK and then come back and give the skills they’ve learned, the knowledge they’ve gained and use it for the future of this country. So, I urge anyone watching or who knows someone who can apply, to go to the Chevening website and apply now. Ana Cvetkovska Translated by Bisera Altiparmakova and Monika Mihajlovska Photos: Frosina Naskovikj Video: Aslan Vishko