UN Summit Notes
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12/17/07
NEW REPORT TRACES UN GLOBAL COMPACT ACTIVITIES IN NEARLY 90 COUNTRIESNew York, Dec 17 2007 7:00PMThe United Nations http://www.unglobalcompact.org/NewsAndEvents/news_archives/2007_12_17.html
Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative, today launched its first-ever report on its country-level activities in nearly 90 nations.
The “Local Network Report” provides an overview of the activities of Global Compact Local Networks (GCLNs), which further the progress of companies engaged in the Compact and help them implement its principles.
For example, the study highlighted a series of lunch meetings in Trinidad and Tobago to provide a forum for business leaders to meet regularly to discuss corporate citizenship.
Meanwhile, in Bulgaria, a directory profiling 70 national and international companies which are part of the GCLN has been created to provide the public with information on these organizations’ activities.
In the past two years alone, the number of GCLNs has doubled and now there are initiatives emerging or already in existence in nearly 90 countries. Recent launches have occurred in the Republic of Korea, Côte d’Ivoire, Viet Nam, the Dominican Republic, Turkey and the United States, among others.
The Global Compact was launched in 2000 with 47 companies, and as of this month, has grown to more than 5,000 participants – among them trade unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some 3,600 businesses – in over 100 countries. They have all pledged to observe 10 universal principles pertaining to human rights, labour rights, the environment and combating corruption.
2007-12-17 00:00:00.000 ___________________
PRIVATE SECTOR SHOULD LEAD FIGHT ON CLIMATE CHANGE, BAN KI-MOON SAYS
New York, Oct 11 2007 5:00PM
The private sector should take the lead on tackling the challenges posed by climate change, from investing in clean new technologies to encouraging countries and industries to make the necessary adaptations to change, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told business leaders in Washington today.
Speaking to the United States Chamber of Commerce this afternoon, Mr. Ban said the role played by US businesses would prove particularly vital given their financial resources and historic leadership in technological innovation.
“We can promote economic growth, spur development and respond to climate change – this is not an either/or proposition,” he said. “Your ability to determine investment flows gives you great influence over the pace of innovation, technological change and adaptation.”
The Secretary-General called on business leaders to develop “innovative market mechanisms” as a means of combating climate change, particularly the perils raised by greenhouse gas emissions.
“I hope you will approach the carbon market as a major economic opening, one that has tripled in size $30 billion in just the past year alone. An expanded and improved carbon market is an essential part of the solution.” The carbon market is a mechanism allowing companies to trade emissions credits in order to ensure that mandated caps are met.
Climate change is also the focus of two other speeches that Mr. Ban is giving during his two-day visit to Washington that ends tomorrow.
Tonight he is expected to tell the National Association of Evangelicals that tackling climate change and global warming is a “moral imperative and a defining issue of our era.”
Mr. Ban will warn that the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide are in jeopardy from climate change.
“Without a strong global effort against global warming, we will fail in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the implicit human right to economic justice and development,” he said, referring to a set of antipoverty targets which leaders at a 2000 UN summit said should be reached by 2015.
The Secretary-General is also due to address the staff of the US Peace Corps tomorrow before returning to UN Headquarters in New York.
2007-10-11 00:00:00.000
CLIMATE CHANGE THE FOCUS OF SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRIP TO WASHINGTON
New York, Oct 10 2007 5:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will head tomorrow to Washington for meetings that will focus on the perils of climate change and the importance of achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
United Nations spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters that the Secretary-General will meet with chief executive officers at the United States Chamber of Commerce to discuss climate change issues.
The same subject will be on the agenda when Mr. Ban gives the keynote address later tomorrow to an event organized by the National Association of Evangelicals.
He is also expected to discuss the need to meet the MDGs, which world leaders agreed at a UN summit in 2000 to strive to achieve by 2015.
Ms. Montas said that on Friday the Secretary-General will meet with members of the US Peace Corps before returning to UN Headquarters in New York.
2007-10-10 00:00:00.000
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES NEED HELP TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE, OFFICIALS TELL UN
New York, Oct 3 2007 3:00PM
Senior officials from a number of developing countries today called for greater international cooperation to help the world’s poor and vulnerable States respond to climate change – the central focus of this year’s annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.
Marco Hausiku, the Foreign Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/namibia-en.pdf Namibia, said climate change is a global issue with serious implications for economic growth, sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of global anti-poverty targets toward the year 2015.
“The international community has to live up to its commitment to provide resources to developing countries to adapt to the effect of climate change,” he told the Assembly. “By the same token, compulsory targets must be set for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”
He called for a greater sense of urgency and international action. “Namibia is not happy with the rate at which investments are made in the development of renewable and clean energy sources,” he said. “I would like to call upon the private sector to join hands with governments to develop and apply technologies that can mitigate climate change.”
Seyoum Mesfin, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/ethiopia-en.pdf Ethiopia, said Africa is “exceptionally” vulnerable to the effects of climate change. “So many of us live on the margins that the smallest difference in climate can mean the difference between sufficiency and famine, survival and death,” he said.
While acknowledging that this global challenge requires a global response, he cautioned that “the need for speedy economic development in countries such as Ethiopia, and in Africa, as a whole should not be compromised in the interest of reversing a dangerous climatic situation for the creation of which we have no responsibility.”
Through effective international cooperation, it should be possible to ensure that the development process in countries such as Ethiopia will be environmentally friendly. Toward that end, he welcomed a proposal put forward by Brazil to convene in 2012 a new UN conference on environment and development.
Also urging a global partnership against climate change, the Foreign Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/suriname-eng.pdf Suriname, Lygia Kraag-Keteldijk, pointed out that the countries least able to respond will be the hardest-hit. “The effects of climate change will be felt in all parts of the world,” she said, “however the impact will be worse in small and vulnerable States.”
For Suriname, a low-lying coastal country, sea-level rise could be “catastrophic,” she said. In response, the Government has designated a large part of its land mass as a World Heritage Site monitored by the UN Educational Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), she added.
She said all countries must work for a common solution. “We call on the international community and development partners to increase their efforts and to continue their technical and financial support to developing countries to safeguard the world environment for current and future generations.”
Philip Sealy, Permanent Representative of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/trinidadandtobago-eng.pdf Trinidad and Tobago, said it was important that any decisions or timetable for emission reductions be implemented as soon as practicable.
“The world is already committed to an increase 1.14 degrees Celsius by the end of the next two decades” as a result of emissions from fossil fuel use and deforestation, Mr. Sealy said, adding that a strategy is needed to ensure that the long-term temperature increase is no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Concerns about climate change were also taken up by representatives of industrialized countries during the high-level debate today, with http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/newzealand-eng.pdf New Zealand’s Permanent Representative Rosemary Banks calling for a “road map” to emerge during the global summit on the issue in Bali, Indonesia, in December.
“The road map will need to include all relevant pieces of the climate change puzzle,” Ms. Banks said, calling for all economies to be placed on “low-carbon pathways over time. Market mechanisms will have a significant role to play. Individual countries will face different challenges. Different national circumstances must be taken into account.”
2007-10-03 00:00:00.000
PACIFIC ISLAND NATIONS SPOTLIGHT PERILS OF CLIMATE CHANGE DURING ADDRESSES TO UN
New York, Oct 1 2007 10:00PM
Developing countries must be allowed to make voluntary commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions under any new global agreement to deal with the effects of climate change, the Deputy Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/tuvalu-eng.pdf Tuvalu told the General Assembly today.
Tavau Teii, who is also his country’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister, said the international summit being held in Bali, Indonesia, in December, “will be very important” in determining how and whether the world can respond successfully to the impact of global warming.
Any agreement emerging from the Bali summit should reconfirm the importance of the Kyoto Protocol concerning greenhouse gas emissions and encourage States Parties to make new and substantial emissions reductions, he said at the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.
Mr. Teii said newly industrialized countries and States with economies in transition should be encouraged to take on pledges to reduce their emissions.
A new negotiation process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should also be agreed, he said, to set up a legal agreement allowing developing countries to make voluntary commitments to reduce their emissions.
“Under this arrangement we envisage that developing countries will be able to take voluntary commitments to reduce emissions from the energy, transport and forest sectors. These commitments would be linked to appropriate incentive mechanisms.”
Mr. Teii also said it was important that any reductions in emissions from deforestation should not come at the expense of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/vanuatu-eng.pdf Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister George Andre Wells said a rapid reduction in gas emissions must take place within the next 10 to 15 years.
“It is a reality that, if it is not addressed urgently, will have irreversible effects on the agriculture and tourism sectors which constitute the core pillars of development of many of our island economies.”
Mr. Wells said the effect of climate change – such as rising sea levels – on agriculture production, water quality and infrastructure development was of critical importance to his nation.
“For many small island States and least developed countries (LDCs) meeting the challenges of climate change will only add additional stress to their financial, human and institutional capacities.”
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/mongolia-en.pdf Mongolia’s Foreign Minister Enkhbold Nyamaa told the high-level debate that climate change was already having an impact on nations large and small, coastal and landlocked – like his own.
Desertification has become rampant in Mongolia, he said, with pastures supporting the semi-nomadic lifestyle of many locals dwindling and becoming more fragile.
Extreme weather conditions have also become more common in recent years, particularly droughts and the phenomenon known as “dzud,” a cold winter with heavy snowfalls.
Any agreements that succeeds or supplants the Kyoto Protocol “should be flexible and diverse, taking into consideration circumstances in each country,” Mr. Nyamaa stressed.
“It must include all the major emitters and achieve compatibility between environmental protection and economic growth by utilizing advances in technologies to the greatest extent possible.”
2007-10-01 00:00:00.000
ISLAND NATIONS TELL UN POWERFUL STATES MUST SHOW LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE CHANGE
New York, Sep 28 2007 4:00PM
The greatest burden in the global fight against climate change should be borne by the world’s powerful countries, which are also often the leading producers of greenhouse gas emissions, the leaders of several island nations told the General Assembly today.
Addressing the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, the representatives also called on affluent nations to increase their level of spending towards an adaptation fund to help the most vulnerable States adjust their economies and infrastructure to cope with the impact of global warming.
“Obviously we have failed badly as custodians of the planet and its future,” http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/samoa-eng.pdf Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi said, adding it was imperative that a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions be devised “that is effective, binding, capable of swift implementation and universally owned and respected by the 192 UN Member States.”
Mr. Malielegaoi called on “those Member States of our Organization in position of world leadership to lead the charge in finding and implementing solutions.”
Winston Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/barbuda-en.pdf Antigua and Barbuda, said the collective response to climate change “represents a monumental test of the political will and courage of humanity in general, but especially of the political leaders of the most powerful countries.”
He also urged greater spending on the adaptation fund, noting that small island States were among the most vulnerable in the world – to natural disasters as much as climate change.
“Because of our size and the nature of our primary economic activity, the infrastructure of an entire country can be destroyed by, for example, the passage of a single hurricane,” he said.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/marshallislands-en.pdf Marshall Islands’ President Kessai H. Note echoed the call for increased spending to help small and poor nations adapt.
“While we are committed to playing our part, strong leadership is required by the major industrialized countries,” the President of the Pacific island nation said.
Mr. Note called on the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases to ratify the Kyoto Protocol immediately, warning that his country faced dire consequences unless urgent action was taken.
“I find no pride in having coined the term ‘ecological refugee’ – it is my deepest hope that no one – and certainly no one in the Marshall Islands, will have to bear that title,” he added.
Stephenson King, Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/saintlucia-en.pdf Saint Lucia, said it was important to work within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when devising solutions.
Mr. King stressed “that the large producers of greenhouse gases must bear the responsibility for the damage being caused to the global environment, and in particular to the vulnerable countries whose sustainability and very existence are increasingly threatened by their actions.”
2007-09-28 00:00:00.000
PACIFIC NATIONS SPOTLIGHT IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE DURING UN ASSEMBLY DEBATE
New York, Sep 27 2007 8:00PM
The representatives of four Pacific Ocean nations today used their addresses to the General Assembly to warn the world’s affluent countries to make sure they do not shirk their responsibilities in the global fight against climate change.
Speakers from Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru and Palau told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that their landscapes – with long coastlines exposed to rising sea levels – leave them in the front line of the global warming battle.
Sir Michael Somare, Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/papuanewguinea-en.pdf Papua New Guinea, said “we are very concerned to see certain industrialized nations attempting to avoid responsibility for their own carbon emissions and shifting the focus to developing nations.
“Only after industrialized nations take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions will the pathway become clear for lasting solutions. However, as developing countries we are willing to contribute equitably towards a sustainable future.”
The Prime Minister outlined a series of measures he said must be in place in the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which is due to expire in 2012.
Those measures include a new global framework dedicated to reducing emissions from deforestation and land degradation, the scaling up of funding for developing countries as they adapt their industries to the impact of climate change, and commitments by wealthy nations to more aggressively cut their emissions.
Micronesia’s President Emanuel Mori said any global response to the various threats posed by climate change should feature the “provision of adequate and additional financing by the developed countries to the most vulnerable to assist us in coping with our adaptation and mitigation requirements.”
Small island developing States such as http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/micronesia-en.pdf Micronesia have a pressing need for greater access to renewable sources of energy so they can move away from a dependence on fossil fuels, Mr. Mori said.
He stressed that a response to climate change will not be effective unless it is pursued “within the frameworks of the United Nations.”
Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru, said it was unfair that small island developing States were among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change when they collectively contributed so little to the emission of greenhouse gases.
Although he joined the call for developed nations to do more to help poor nations to adapt, Mr. Scotty also said non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the rest of civil society in poor countries can cooperate more to build up capacity in the fight against climate change.
“Capital investments alone are not sufficient,” he said. “The need is to respond to the climate challenge with technology, skills and knowledge which are required to guide us.”
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/palau-en.pdf Palau’s Vice-President Elias Camsek Chin said the proposed reductions under a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol must be ambitious and quantifiable, rather than a set of general intentions.
Mr. Chin warned of the dire consequences if the world’s countries do not agree soon on an urgent programme of emission reduction.
“We are no longer in total control of our own destinies. When temperatures increase, our corals bleach, the seas rise, and the oceans acidify, threatening to demolish our marine biodiversity, jeopardizing our livelihood, and eventually destroying our identity,” he said.
2007-09-27 00:00:00.000
DEVELOPING STATES NEED HELP COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE, MOZAMBICAN LEADER TELLS UN
New York, Sep 26 2007 6:00PM
Developing countries bear the brunt of climate change and need international assistance to help them mitigate its effects, the President of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/mozambique-en.pdf Mozambique told the United Nations General Assembly today.
Addressing the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, Armando Emí Guebuza said increases in extreme weather patterns, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change are “felt more harshly in developing countries” which lack the capacity to properly respond.
“More than ever, and in the face of recurrent and more and more devastating tragedies, there is a need for involvement of all members of the international community in the implementation of global actions enshrined in [international] commitments,” he said.
The Mozambican President praised Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for having convened an unprecedented global gathering on the issue earlier this week, which he said “opens up new prospects for the renewed momentum required so that substantial progress can be made during the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held this December in Bali, Indonesia.”
That meeting will be tasked with hammering out a successor to the Convention’s Kyoto Protocol, which contains legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but is set to expire in 2012.
The President of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/zambia-eng.pdf Zambia, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, said his country needs assistance in such areas as scientific research, early warning and rapid response to address the effects of climate change.
“Zambia calls for speedy development and transfer of appropriate technologies to help us cope with the negative impacts of climate change as well as put us on a low-carbon economic growth path,” he said.
For its part, Zambia pledged to reduce emissions from industry and other sources, he said. “We call upon industrialized countries, who have a history of producing these emissions, to take serious steps to reduce them,” he said.
“We believe the situation is now serious and narrow national interests in this matter must be discarded.”
King Mswati III of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/swaziland-en.pdf Swaziland said that while countries like his own had developed “pro-green” policies, there was still a need for access to and transfer of environmentally-friendly technologies, particularly from developed to developing countries.
He called for measures to promote technology cooperation which would not only enable the transfer of crucial technological know-how but also help build up local capacity for the efficient use and further development of the transferred technology.
The Swazi leader also encouraged the private sector, particularly multinational corporations, “to be responsible enough to practice in the developing world the same environmental and waste management principles that they practice in the developed world,” including by not dumping harmful waste materials in developing countries.
Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of <"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/switzerland-fr-eng.pdf">Switzerland, said her country has also felt the effects of climate change. “Glaciers are receding and floods are on the increase,” she said. “As far as my country is concerned, the cost of efforts to save the planet affordable, considering the technology that already exists.”
She pointed out that the international community has come together to address poverty and to promote peace and respect for human rights, but added, “our efforts in relation to environmental challenges have not gone far enough.”
Treaties and other mechanisms to deal with the question are fragmented, she said. “We need therefore to unite in order to identify and implement these objectives so that we may make more economical use of the available resources and energy, and protect the biosphere.”
Toward that end, she called for a significant reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. “We also need to help the countries most affected by these changes, the least developed among them in particular, to develop and implement strategies that will enable them to adapt to the changes, and alleviate the adverse effects on them as much as possible.”
2007-09-26 00:00:00.000
AT UN, MADAGASCAR CALLS FOR ‘ECOLOGICAL PARTNERSHIP’ BETWEEN AFRICA, RICH STATES
New York, Sep 26 2007 7:00PM
Africa and the industrialized world should form an “ecological partnership” in which African States supply clean energy and other natural products and wealthy countries increase their investment in the continent, Madagascar’s President told national leaders gathered at the General Assembly today.
“There is an urgent need for the globalization of responsibility,” Marc Ravalomanana said as he called for new strategies that utilize the international community to help African economies advance more quickly and yet still protect their environment.
During previous addresses to the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, Mr. Ravalomanana has called for a Marshall Plan for Africa to match the economic assistance programme that the United States brought to Europe after World War II.
Reiterating the need for such a plan, he said today that the ecological partnership would form a crucial element.
“Such a partnership could contribute substantially to finding real solutions to some of the climate problems, through a programme of investment. Other important features would be nature conservation, and the preservation of our biodiversity.
“I am convinced that Africa could be the supplier of clean energy, medicinal and industrial plants, as well as other natural products in the future. The world is bound to need more and more of these.”
The Malagasy President said the possibilities in Africa for producing new, clean forms of energy and reducing the output of carbon dioxide were enormous.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/madagascar-eng.pdf Madagascar could provide some of the energy needs through the development of hydro energy. And half of Madagascar could be reforested. Our island, called the red island, could once again, be known as the green island.”
International help would be vital to this process, he said, stressing “there is a strong link between the quality of the environment and poverty.”
But he voiced concern at what he said was “the lack of seriousness” at forums such as the General Assembly annual high-level debate.
“A lot of promises are made, but not a lot of promises are kept,” the President said, adding that many donor nations are not even close to meeting their vow of doubling aid to Africa.
“Aid to Africa is as weak as ever. Africa can absorb so much more. And all countries would benefit from this.”
2007-09-26 00:00:00.000
GENERAL ASSEMBLY MECHANISM NEEDED TO DEVISE CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE – MALTA
New York, Sep 26 2007 9:00PM
The General Assembly should set up a mechanism to devise a global strategy to deal with climate change that avoids the current fragmentation and pays particularly attention to the needs of small island States, Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today.
Dr. Gonzi told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that international institutions and organizations such as the United Nations should tackle the issue of global warming and its repercussions “in a more cohesive and concerted manner,” or future generations would pay the price.
“It is imperative that all actors involved in climate risk reduction take a unified stand on a strategy and action to strengthen the resilience of affected countries in building their ability to face and adapt to the adverse impact of climate change,” he said.
Dr. Gonzi said the General Assembly mechanism should also report on all the activities in the field of climate change over the past 20 years to help in proposing its strategy to deal with the problem.
The Prime Minister also welcomed the efforts of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to build momentum – including by holding a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday – on the issue.
“<"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/malta-en.pdf">Malta looks forward to decisions at the Bali summit next December that will orient and accelerate action within the United Nations framework to obtain agreement on a comprehensive, effective, fair and urgent global strategy to limit climate change and adapt to its impacts.”
The negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, are aimed at hammering out a successor pact to the legally binding Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which is set to expire in 2012.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/poland-eng.pdf - PolandPresident Lech Kaczynski told the Assembly that “the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is one of the greatest challenges facing mankind in the years to come,” although he added that “to be objective, it should be noted at this point that many scientists represent dissenting views” about climate change and recent weather extremes.
Development does not have to be coupled with increased greenhouse gas emissions, he said, calling on wealthy nations to ensure that poorer States can take greater advantage of effective technologies and renewable energy sources.
“There is no doubt that deforestation in the developing countries increases the emissions of greenhouse gases and destroys biodiversity. We must counteract that. We cannot demand slower development of those countries at their expense. We must therefore help them in realistic and tangible ways.”
2007-09-26 00:00:00.000
CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS MUST ALSO TACKLE POVERTY, INDONESIAN LEADER TELLS UN
New York, Sep 25 2007 8:00PM
The solution to the problems posed by climate change must be linked to sustainable development so that the world’s least affluent countries can conquer poverty, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the United Nations General Assembly today.
Speaking at the annual high-level debate at UN Headquarters in New York, the President said it was important to not lose sight of the fight against poverty when trying to combat climate change.
He said the global summit to be held in Bali, http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/indonesia-en.pdf Indonesia, this December “must yield a new roadmap” that spells out what both the developed and developing world must do “to save humankind and its planet from the looming tragedy of climate change.”
The Bali summit seeks to determine future action on mitigation, adaptation, the global carbon market and financing responses to climate change for the period after the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol – the current global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions – in 2012.
Mr. Yudhoyono said the summit “must produce an outcome and timeline that will be more comprehensive and more ambitious in achieving its practical objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We developing countries must protect our natural resources while using them wisely for development,” he added.
He said he was optimistic that there is now a window of opportunity to strike a global consensus to deal with global warming.
Indonesia also launched a Special Leaders’ Meeting of Tropical Rainforest Countries yesterday and the President said that the participating nations have agreed to strengthen their cooperation so that the forests can be better conserved.
“We also believe that countries that seek to enhance their carbon sinks – through forestation, afforestation, avoided deforestation – should be given incentive and rewarded fairly for doing so.”
2007-09-25 00:00:00.000
CHILE’S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR UN MEMBER STATES TO ACT TO STEM CLIMATE CHANGE
New York, Sep 25 2007 6:00PM
The President of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/chile-eng.pdf Chile called for a new global political consensus to deal with climate change, based on a shared but differentiated set of responsibilities and within the framework of the United Nations, during an address to the General Assembly today.
Michelle Bachelet described the impact of climate change on her country, where “the speed with which the glaciers are melting has doubled in the past 10 years.” At the same time, Chile’s southern zones are experiencing a “dangerous depletion of the ozone layer, jeopardizing the health of our citizens.”
The Government has taken steps to mitigate the effects of global warming, she said, calling for stepped-up international action. “There is no time to lose. The effort of consensus that we must make, the effort to enlist the greatest possible support, is comparable only to the effort for peace made on the occasion of the adoption of the San Francisco [UN] Charter six decades ago,” she told the annual high-level debate.
“If we do not act now, the future of all humanity will be endangered,” she warned, arguing for a new “global political consensus to generate collective action capable of solving the problem in accordance with the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility and within the framework of the United Nations.”
While acknowledging that all countries must contribute to this effort, she emphasized that those who “have already polluted and achieved their development” have special responsibilities.
“We ask the developed countries to promise technical and financial assistance to the developing countries that most need help with their efforts to combat climate change.”
She voiced hope for the success of negotiations planned for Bali, Indonesia this December aimed at hammering out a successor pact to the legally binding Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which is set to expire in 2012. “We also hope that the developed countries will make greater commitments regarding mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and financing.”
In addition, she added, developing countries must undertake “additional emissions reduction actions in the framework of a global effort.”
2007-09-25 00:00:00.000
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12/17/07
NEW REPORT TRACES UN GLOBAL COMPACT ACTIVITIES IN NEARLY 90 COUNTRIESNew York, Dec 17 2007 7:00PMThe United Nations http://www.unglobalcompact.org/NewsAndEvents/news_archives/2007_12_17.html
Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative, today launched its first-ever report on its country-level activities in nearly 90 nations.
The “Local Network Report” provides an overview of the activities of Global Compact Local Networks (GCLNs), which further the progress of companies engaged in the Compact and help them implement its principles.
For example, the study highlighted a series of lunch meetings in Trinidad and Tobago to provide a forum for business leaders to meet regularly to discuss corporate citizenship.
Meanwhile, in Bulgaria, a directory profiling 70 national and international companies which are part of the GCLN has been created to provide the public with information on these organizations’ activities.
In the past two years alone, the number of GCLNs has doubled and now there are initiatives emerging or already in existence in nearly 90 countries. Recent launches have occurred in the Republic of Korea, Côte d’Ivoire, Viet Nam, the Dominican Republic, Turkey and the United States, among others.
The Global Compact was launched in 2000 with 47 companies, and as of this month, has grown to more than 5,000 participants – among them trade unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some 3,600 businesses – in over 100 countries. They have all pledged to observe 10 universal principles pertaining to human rights, labour rights, the environment and combating corruption.
2007-12-17 00:00:00.000 ___________________
PRIVATE SECTOR SHOULD LEAD FIGHT ON CLIMATE CHANGE, BAN KI-MOON SAYS
New York, Oct 11 2007 5:00PM
The private sector should take the lead on tackling the challenges posed by climate change, from investing in clean new technologies to encouraging countries and industries to make the necessary adaptations to change, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told business leaders in Washington today.
Speaking to the United States Chamber of Commerce this afternoon, Mr. Ban said the role played by US businesses would prove particularly vital given their financial resources and historic leadership in technological innovation.
“We can promote economic growth, spur development and respond to climate change – this is not an either/or proposition,” he said. “Your ability to determine investment flows gives you great influence over the pace of innovation, technological change and adaptation.”
The Secretary-General called on business leaders to develop “innovative market mechanisms” as a means of combating climate change, particularly the perils raised by greenhouse gas emissions.
“I hope you will approach the carbon market as a major economic opening, one that has tripled in size $30 billion in just the past year alone. An expanded and improved carbon market is an essential part of the solution.” The carbon market is a mechanism allowing companies to trade emissions credits in order to ensure that mandated caps are met.
Climate change is also the focus of two other speeches that Mr. Ban is giving during his two-day visit to Washington that ends tomorrow.
Tonight he is expected to tell the National Association of Evangelicals that tackling climate change and global warming is a “moral imperative and a defining issue of our era.”
Mr. Ban will warn that the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide are in jeopardy from climate change.
“Without a strong global effort against global warming, we will fail in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the implicit human right to economic justice and development,” he said, referring to a set of antipoverty targets which leaders at a 2000 UN summit said should be reached by 2015.
The Secretary-General is also due to address the staff of the US Peace Corps tomorrow before returning to UN Headquarters in New York.
2007-10-11 00:00:00.000
CLIMATE CHANGE THE FOCUS OF SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TRIP TO WASHINGTON
New York, Oct 10 2007 5:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will head tomorrow to Washington for meetings that will focus on the perils of climate change and the importance of achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
United Nations spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters that the Secretary-General will meet with chief executive officers at the United States Chamber of Commerce to discuss climate change issues.
The same subject will be on the agenda when Mr. Ban gives the keynote address later tomorrow to an event organized by the National Association of Evangelicals.
He is also expected to discuss the need to meet the MDGs, which world leaders agreed at a UN summit in 2000 to strive to achieve by 2015.
Ms. Montas said that on Friday the Secretary-General will meet with members of the US Peace Corps before returning to UN Headquarters in New York.
2007-10-10 00:00:00.000
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES NEED HELP TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE, OFFICIALS TELL UN
New York, Oct 3 2007 3:00PM
Senior officials from a number of developing countries today called for greater international cooperation to help the world’s poor and vulnerable States respond to climate change – the central focus of this year’s annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.
Marco Hausiku, the Foreign Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/namibia-en.pdf Namibia, said climate change is a global issue with serious implications for economic growth, sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of global anti-poverty targets toward the year 2015.
“The international community has to live up to its commitment to provide resources to developing countries to adapt to the effect of climate change,” he told the Assembly. “By the same token, compulsory targets must be set for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”
He called for a greater sense of urgency and international action. “Namibia is not happy with the rate at which investments are made in the development of renewable and clean energy sources,” he said. “I would like to call upon the private sector to join hands with governments to develop and apply technologies that can mitigate climate change.”
Seyoum Mesfin, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/ethiopia-en.pdf Ethiopia, said Africa is “exceptionally” vulnerable to the effects of climate change. “So many of us live on the margins that the smallest difference in climate can mean the difference between sufficiency and famine, survival and death,” he said.
While acknowledging that this global challenge requires a global response, he cautioned that “the need for speedy economic development in countries such as Ethiopia, and in Africa, as a whole should not be compromised in the interest of reversing a dangerous climatic situation for the creation of which we have no responsibility.”
Through effective international cooperation, it should be possible to ensure that the development process in countries such as Ethiopia will be environmentally friendly. Toward that end, he welcomed a proposal put forward by Brazil to convene in 2012 a new UN conference on environment and development.
Also urging a global partnership against climate change, the Foreign Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/suriname-eng.pdf Suriname, Lygia Kraag-Keteldijk, pointed out that the countries least able to respond will be the hardest-hit. “The effects of climate change will be felt in all parts of the world,” she said, “however the impact will be worse in small and vulnerable States.”
For Suriname, a low-lying coastal country, sea-level rise could be “catastrophic,” she said. In response, the Government has designated a large part of its land mass as a World Heritage Site monitored by the UN Educational Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), she added.
She said all countries must work for a common solution. “We call on the international community and development partners to increase their efforts and to continue their technical and financial support to developing countries to safeguard the world environment for current and future generations.”
Philip Sealy, Permanent Representative of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/trinidadandtobago-eng.pdf Trinidad and Tobago, said it was important that any decisions or timetable for emission reductions be implemented as soon as practicable.
“The world is already committed to an increase 1.14 degrees Celsius by the end of the next two decades” as a result of emissions from fossil fuel use and deforestation, Mr. Sealy said, adding that a strategy is needed to ensure that the long-term temperature increase is no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Concerns about climate change were also taken up by representatives of industrialized countries during the high-level debate today, with http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/newzealand-eng.pdf New Zealand’s Permanent Representative Rosemary Banks calling for a “road map” to emerge during the global summit on the issue in Bali, Indonesia, in December.
“The road map will need to include all relevant pieces of the climate change puzzle,” Ms. Banks said, calling for all economies to be placed on “low-carbon pathways over time. Market mechanisms will have a significant role to play. Individual countries will face different challenges. Different national circumstances must be taken into account.”
2007-10-03 00:00:00.000
PACIFIC ISLAND NATIONS SPOTLIGHT PERILS OF CLIMATE CHANGE DURING ADDRESSES TO UN
New York, Oct 1 2007 10:00PM
Developing countries must be allowed to make voluntary commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions under any new global agreement to deal with the effects of climate change, the Deputy Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/tuvalu-eng.pdf Tuvalu told the General Assembly today.
Tavau Teii, who is also his country’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister, said the international summit being held in Bali, Indonesia, in December, “will be very important” in determining how and whether the world can respond successfully to the impact of global warming.
Any agreement emerging from the Bali summit should reconfirm the importance of the Kyoto Protocol concerning greenhouse gas emissions and encourage States Parties to make new and substantial emissions reductions, he said at the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly.
Mr. Teii said newly industrialized countries and States with economies in transition should be encouraged to take on pledges to reduce their emissions.
A new negotiation process under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) should also be agreed, he said, to set up a legal agreement allowing developing countries to make voluntary commitments to reduce their emissions.
“Under this arrangement we envisage that developing countries will be able to take voluntary commitments to reduce emissions from the energy, transport and forest sectors. These commitments would be linked to appropriate incentive mechanisms.”
Mr. Teii also said it was important that any reductions in emissions from deforestation should not come at the expense of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/vanuatu-eng.pdf Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister George Andre Wells said a rapid reduction in gas emissions must take place within the next 10 to 15 years.
“It is a reality that, if it is not addressed urgently, will have irreversible effects on the agriculture and tourism sectors which constitute the core pillars of development of many of our island economies.”
Mr. Wells said the effect of climate change – such as rising sea levels – on agriculture production, water quality and infrastructure development was of critical importance to his nation.
“For many small island States and least developed countries (LDCs) meeting the challenges of climate change will only add additional stress to their financial, human and institutional capacities.”
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/mongolia-en.pdf Mongolia’s Foreign Minister Enkhbold Nyamaa told the high-level debate that climate change was already having an impact on nations large and small, coastal and landlocked – like his own.
Desertification has become rampant in Mongolia, he said, with pastures supporting the semi-nomadic lifestyle of many locals dwindling and becoming more fragile.
Extreme weather conditions have also become more common in recent years, particularly droughts and the phenomenon known as “dzud,” a cold winter with heavy snowfalls.
Any agreements that succeeds or supplants the Kyoto Protocol “should be flexible and diverse, taking into consideration circumstances in each country,” Mr. Nyamaa stressed.
“It must include all the major emitters and achieve compatibility between environmental protection and economic growth by utilizing advances in technologies to the greatest extent possible.”
2007-10-01 00:00:00.000
ISLAND NATIONS TELL UN POWERFUL STATES MUST SHOW LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE CHANGE
New York, Sep 28 2007 4:00PM
The greatest burden in the global fight against climate change should be borne by the world’s powerful countries, which are also often the leading producers of greenhouse gas emissions, the leaders of several island nations told the General Assembly today.
Addressing the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, the representatives also called on affluent nations to increase their level of spending towards an adaptation fund to help the most vulnerable States adjust their economies and infrastructure to cope with the impact of global warming.
“Obviously we have failed badly as custodians of the planet and its future,” http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/samoa-eng.pdf Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi said, adding it was imperative that a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions be devised “that is effective, binding, capable of swift implementation and universally owned and respected by the 192 UN Member States.”
Mr. Malielegaoi called on “those Member States of our Organization in position of world leadership to lead the charge in finding and implementing solutions.”
Winston Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/barbuda-en.pdf Antigua and Barbuda, said the collective response to climate change “represents a monumental test of the political will and courage of humanity in general, but especially of the political leaders of the most powerful countries.”
He also urged greater spending on the adaptation fund, noting that small island States were among the most vulnerable in the world – to natural disasters as much as climate change.
“Because of our size and the nature of our primary economic activity, the infrastructure of an entire country can be destroyed by, for example, the passage of a single hurricane,” he said.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/marshallislands-en.pdf Marshall Islands’ President Kessai H. Note echoed the call for increased spending to help small and poor nations adapt.
“While we are committed to playing our part, strong leadership is required by the major industrialized countries,” the President of the Pacific island nation said.
Mr. Note called on the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases to ratify the Kyoto Protocol immediately, warning that his country faced dire consequences unless urgent action was taken.
“I find no pride in having coined the term ‘ecological refugee’ – it is my deepest hope that no one – and certainly no one in the Marshall Islands, will have to bear that title,” he added.
Stephenson King, Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/saintlucia-en.pdf Saint Lucia, said it was important to work within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) when devising solutions.
Mr. King stressed “that the large producers of greenhouse gases must bear the responsibility for the damage being caused to the global environment, and in particular to the vulnerable countries whose sustainability and very existence are increasingly threatened by their actions.”
2007-09-28 00:00:00.000
PACIFIC NATIONS SPOTLIGHT IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE DURING UN ASSEMBLY DEBATE
New York, Sep 27 2007 8:00PM
The representatives of four Pacific Ocean nations today used their addresses to the General Assembly to warn the world’s affluent countries to make sure they do not shirk their responsibilities in the global fight against climate change.
Speakers from Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru and Palau told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that their landscapes – with long coastlines exposed to rising sea levels – leave them in the front line of the global warming battle.
Sir Michael Somare, Prime Minister of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/papuanewguinea-en.pdf Papua New Guinea, said “we are very concerned to see certain industrialized nations attempting to avoid responsibility for their own carbon emissions and shifting the focus to developing nations.
“Only after industrialized nations take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions will the pathway become clear for lasting solutions. However, as developing countries we are willing to contribute equitably towards a sustainable future.”
The Prime Minister outlined a series of measures he said must be in place in the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which is due to expire in 2012.
Those measures include a new global framework dedicated to reducing emissions from deforestation and land degradation, the scaling up of funding for developing countries as they adapt their industries to the impact of climate change, and commitments by wealthy nations to more aggressively cut their emissions.
Micronesia’s President Emanuel Mori said any global response to the various threats posed by climate change should feature the “provision of adequate and additional financing by the developed countries to the most vulnerable to assist us in coping with our adaptation and mitigation requirements.”
Small island developing States such as http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/micronesia-en.pdf Micronesia have a pressing need for greater access to renewable sources of energy so they can move away from a dependence on fossil fuels, Mr. Mori said.
He stressed that a response to climate change will not be effective unless it is pursued “within the frameworks of the United Nations.”
Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru, said it was unfair that small island developing States were among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change when they collectively contributed so little to the emission of greenhouse gases.
Although he joined the call for developed nations to do more to help poor nations to adapt, Mr. Scotty also said non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the rest of civil society in poor countries can cooperate more to build up capacity in the fight against climate change.
“Capital investments alone are not sufficient,” he said. “The need is to respond to the climate challenge with technology, skills and knowledge which are required to guide us.”
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/palau-en.pdf Palau’s Vice-President Elias Camsek Chin said the proposed reductions under a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol must be ambitious and quantifiable, rather than a set of general intentions.
Mr. Chin warned of the dire consequences if the world’s countries do not agree soon on an urgent programme of emission reduction.
“We are no longer in total control of our own destinies. When temperatures increase, our corals bleach, the seas rise, and the oceans acidify, threatening to demolish our marine biodiversity, jeopardizing our livelihood, and eventually destroying our identity,” he said.
2007-09-27 00:00:00.000
DEVELOPING STATES NEED HELP COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE, MOZAMBICAN LEADER TELLS UN
New York, Sep 26 2007 6:00PM
Developing countries bear the brunt of climate change and need international assistance to help them mitigate its effects, the President of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/mozambique-en.pdf Mozambique told the United Nations General Assembly today.
Addressing the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, Armando Emí Guebuza said increases in extreme weather patterns, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change are “felt more harshly in developing countries” which lack the capacity to properly respond.
“More than ever, and in the face of recurrent and more and more devastating tragedies, there is a need for involvement of all members of the international community in the implementation of global actions enshrined in [international] commitments,” he said.
The Mozambican President praised Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for having convened an unprecedented global gathering on the issue earlier this week, which he said “opens up new prospects for the renewed momentum required so that substantial progress can be made during the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held this December in Bali, Indonesia.”
That meeting will be tasked with hammering out a successor to the Convention’s Kyoto Protocol, which contains legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions but is set to expire in 2012.
The President of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/zambia-eng.pdf Zambia, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, said his country needs assistance in such areas as scientific research, early warning and rapid response to address the effects of climate change.
“Zambia calls for speedy development and transfer of appropriate technologies to help us cope with the negative impacts of climate change as well as put us on a low-carbon economic growth path,” he said.
For its part, Zambia pledged to reduce emissions from industry and other sources, he said. “We call upon industrialized countries, who have a history of producing these emissions, to take serious steps to reduce them,” he said.
“We believe the situation is now serious and narrow national interests in this matter must be discarded.”
King Mswati III of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/swaziland-en.pdf Swaziland said that while countries like his own had developed “pro-green” policies, there was still a need for access to and transfer of environmentally-friendly technologies, particularly from developed to developing countries.
He called for measures to promote technology cooperation which would not only enable the transfer of crucial technological know-how but also help build up local capacity for the efficient use and further development of the transferred technology.
The Swazi leader also encouraged the private sector, particularly multinational corporations, “to be responsible enough to practice in the developing world the same environmental and waste management principles that they practice in the developed world,” including by not dumping harmful waste materials in developing countries.
Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of <"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/switzerland-fr-eng.pdf">Switzerland, said her country has also felt the effects of climate change. “Glaciers are receding and floods are on the increase,” she said. “As far as my country is concerned, the cost of efforts to save the planet affordable, considering the technology that already exists.”
She pointed out that the international community has come together to address poverty and to promote peace and respect for human rights, but added, “our efforts in relation to environmental challenges have not gone far enough.”
Treaties and other mechanisms to deal with the question are fragmented, she said. “We need therefore to unite in order to identify and implement these objectives so that we may make more economical use of the available resources and energy, and protect the biosphere.”
Toward that end, she called for a significant reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. “We also need to help the countries most affected by these changes, the least developed among them in particular, to develop and implement strategies that will enable them to adapt to the changes, and alleviate the adverse effects on them as much as possible.”
2007-09-26 00:00:00.000
AT UN, MADAGASCAR CALLS FOR ‘ECOLOGICAL PARTNERSHIP’ BETWEEN AFRICA, RICH STATES
New York, Sep 26 2007 7:00PM
Africa and the industrialized world should form an “ecological partnership” in which African States supply clean energy and other natural products and wealthy countries increase their investment in the continent, Madagascar’s President told national leaders gathered at the General Assembly today.
“There is an urgent need for the globalization of responsibility,” Marc Ravalomanana said as he called for new strategies that utilize the international community to help African economies advance more quickly and yet still protect their environment.
During previous addresses to the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, Mr. Ravalomanana has called for a Marshall Plan for Africa to match the economic assistance programme that the United States brought to Europe after World War II.
Reiterating the need for such a plan, he said today that the ecological partnership would form a crucial element.
“Such a partnership could contribute substantially to finding real solutions to some of the climate problems, through a programme of investment. Other important features would be nature conservation, and the preservation of our biodiversity.
“I am convinced that Africa could be the supplier of clean energy, medicinal and industrial plants, as well as other natural products in the future. The world is bound to need more and more of these.”
The Malagasy President said the possibilities in Africa for producing new, clean forms of energy and reducing the output of carbon dioxide were enormous.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/madagascar-eng.pdf Madagascar could provide some of the energy needs through the development of hydro energy. And half of Madagascar could be reforested. Our island, called the red island, could once again, be known as the green island.”
International help would be vital to this process, he said, stressing “there is a strong link between the quality of the environment and poverty.”
But he voiced concern at what he said was “the lack of seriousness” at forums such as the General Assembly annual high-level debate.
“A lot of promises are made, but not a lot of promises are kept,” the President said, adding that many donor nations are not even close to meeting their vow of doubling aid to Africa.
“Aid to Africa is as weak as ever. Africa can absorb so much more. And all countries would benefit from this.”
2007-09-26 00:00:00.000
GENERAL ASSEMBLY MECHANISM NEEDED TO DEVISE CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE – MALTA
New York, Sep 26 2007 9:00PM
The General Assembly should set up a mechanism to devise a global strategy to deal with climate change that avoids the current fragmentation and pays particularly attention to the needs of small island States, Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today.
Dr. Gonzi told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that international institutions and organizations such as the United Nations should tackle the issue of global warming and its repercussions “in a more cohesive and concerted manner,” or future generations would pay the price.
“It is imperative that all actors involved in climate risk reduction take a unified stand on a strategy and action to strengthen the resilience of affected countries in building their ability to face and adapt to the adverse impact of climate change,” he said.
Dr. Gonzi said the General Assembly mechanism should also report on all the activities in the field of climate change over the past 20 years to help in proposing its strategy to deal with the problem.
The Prime Minister also welcomed the efforts of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to build momentum – including by holding a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday – on the issue.
“<"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/malta-en.pdf">Malta looks forward to decisions at the Bali summit next December that will orient and accelerate action within the United Nations framework to obtain agreement on a comprehensive, effective, fair and urgent global strategy to limit climate change and adapt to its impacts.”
The negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, are aimed at hammering out a successor pact to the legally binding Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which is set to expire in 2012.
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/poland-eng.pdf - PolandPresident Lech Kaczynski told the Assembly that “the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is one of the greatest challenges facing mankind in the years to come,” although he added that “to be objective, it should be noted at this point that many scientists represent dissenting views” about climate change and recent weather extremes.
Development does not have to be coupled with increased greenhouse gas emissions, he said, calling on wealthy nations to ensure that poorer States can take greater advantage of effective technologies and renewable energy sources.
“There is no doubt that deforestation in the developing countries increases the emissions of greenhouse gases and destroys biodiversity. We must counteract that. We cannot demand slower development of those countries at their expense. We must therefore help them in realistic and tangible ways.”
2007-09-26 00:00:00.000
CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS MUST ALSO TACKLE POVERTY, INDONESIAN LEADER TELLS UN
New York, Sep 25 2007 8:00PM
The solution to the problems posed by climate change must be linked to sustainable development so that the world’s least affluent countries can conquer poverty, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the United Nations General Assembly today.
Speaking at the annual high-level debate at UN Headquarters in New York, the President said it was important to not lose sight of the fight against poverty when trying to combat climate change.
He said the global summit to be held in Bali, http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/indonesia-en.pdf Indonesia, this December “must yield a new roadmap” that spells out what both the developed and developing world must do “to save humankind and its planet from the looming tragedy of climate change.”
The Bali summit seeks to determine future action on mitigation, adaptation, the global carbon market and financing responses to climate change for the period after the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol – the current global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions – in 2012.
Mr. Yudhoyono said the summit “must produce an outcome and timeline that will be more comprehensive and more ambitious in achieving its practical objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We developing countries must protect our natural resources while using them wisely for development,” he added.
He said he was optimistic that there is now a window of opportunity to strike a global consensus to deal with global warming.
Indonesia also launched a Special Leaders’ Meeting of Tropical Rainforest Countries yesterday and the President said that the participating nations have agreed to strengthen their cooperation so that the forests can be better conserved.
“We also believe that countries that seek to enhance their carbon sinks – through forestation, afforestation, avoided deforestation – should be given incentive and rewarded fairly for doing so.”
2007-09-25 00:00:00.000
CHILE’S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR UN MEMBER STATES TO ACT TO STEM CLIMATE CHANGE
New York, Sep 25 2007 6:00PM
The President of http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/2007/pdfs/chile-eng.pdf Chile called for a new global political consensus to deal with climate change, based on a shared but differentiated set of responsibilities and within the framework of the United Nations, during an address to the General Assembly today.
Michelle Bachelet described the impact of climate change on her country, where “the speed with which the glaciers are melting has doubled in the past 10 years.” At the same time, Chile’s southern zones are experiencing a “dangerous depletion of the ozone layer, jeopardizing the health of our citizens.”
The Government has taken steps to mitigate the effects of global warming, she said, calling for stepped-up international action. “There is no time to lose. The effort of consensus that we must make, the effort to enlist the greatest possible support, is comparable only to the effort for peace made on the occasion of the adoption of the San Francisco [UN] Charter six decades ago,” she told the annual high-level debate.
“If we do not act now, the future of all humanity will be endangered,” she warned, arguing for a new “global political consensus to generate collective action capable of solving the problem in accordance with the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility and within the framework of the United Nations.”
While acknowledging that all countries must contribute to this effort, she emphasized that those who “have already polluted and achieved their development” have special responsibilities.
“We ask the developed countries to promise technical and financial assistance to the developing countries that most need help with their efforts to combat climate change.”
She voiced hope for the success of negotiations planned for Bali, Indonesia this December aimed at hammering out a successor pact to the legally binding Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which is set to expire in 2012. “We also hope that the developed countries will make greater commitments regarding mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and financing.”
In addition, she added, developing countries must undertake “additional emissions reduction actions in the framework of a global effort.”
2007-09-25 00:00:00.000
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