Allow me to express sincere gratitude to Dr. Pachauri and TERI for the warm welcome and generous hospitality we have enjoyed since we arrived in Delhi.
In Copenhagen, people’s expectation was that delegates would achieve an ambitious and legally-binding agreement. Because this was not achieved many were disappointed.

However, we did move forward in Copenhagen- especially politically. We have to continue working with governments, the business sector, civil society and citizens in order to overcome the obstacles identified. This is because while we negotiate with each other, the changing climate is not seeking to negotiate with us. We have the science and the predictions. Of course nobody has the whole story and scientists will continue working. In the meantime, people will continue to throw spanners, and express their own opinions and doubts especially if the predictions call for a major change in their way of life or in the way they do business. To move from self interest to the common good is never easy.

However, the consequences of Climate Change for some of us are a matter of life and death. We cannot afford to wait and see that, indeed, the sea levels have risen, or rivers have dried up, and crops have failed. It may be too late if we wait until all the snow and ice on Mt. Kenya and Kilimanjaro has melted away, the deserts have expanded, and forests are cut down. By then, we may either have drowned, died of hunger or we shall have become climate change refugees.

So, it would be wise to adopt the precautionary principle: ’prevention is better than cure’ and ’better sure than sorry’. That is why this summit and the continuing dialogues are so important so that we move the debate forward before we meet again in Mexico.
Whether we believe in climate change or not, planet earth will not care. Most likely it, and perhaps many other species, will adapt to whatever climate changes will come. The planet will survive. The challenge is whether some of us, especially those of us in vulnerable regions, will adapt and adopt lifestyle changes fast enough to survive. Scientists have particularly warned about Africa and the Small Island States. Lack of knowledge, technology and capital put poor developing countries at great risk and make it very urgent that the developed countries come to a consensus. They have a moral responsibility to act sooner than later and they have to be reminded at every opportunity.

In Copenhagen, there was recognition and acceptance of this historic responsibility. The presence of so many Heads of States and Governments and the financial promises that were made were important gestures.

I still remember decades ago, when the former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland, warned governments over issue of sustainable development and the issue of overconsumption. These issues are still with us today. It confirms that the world moves very slowly on issues that are not seen as immediate threats, and which are the oil that help turn the wheels of politics and commerce.

But it is possible that because the regions that have overused the common atmospheric space and have a historic carbon responsibility are not under threat, it will take much more to persuade them to take the appropriate action. They agreed to cut emissions, but only to levels that the political and the business sectors at home can afford. Therefore much work still remains to be done at national level to convince the politicians and the business community. We also need to convince the general public, which eventually have to put pressure on the politicians. Until they are threatened, they and the business sector will not move. They may also act if they feel that the future generations will be threatened. Sacrificing for the planet earth may not be such a high priority to those making decisions.

But it should be a priority for the religious leaders because it is God’s Creation that is at stake. We should continue to engage this sector vigorously because they speak to millions of the faithful, who should care about this threat. They have a strong weapon in form of values like compassion, love for the environment, empathy. In Japan, I learned about a concept known as Mottainai (respect, gratitude and not wasting) and which relates closely with the concept of 3Rs (reduce, re-use and re-cycle). Religion teaches against craving and encourages restraint. These values, more than science and predictions can move the general populations and make the people understand why there is need to take action; to realize that we are all in it together and we need that human partnership as we seek to actualize our own happiness. As humans, we find happiness together, not in isolation.

These values can overcome the strong words and phrases that dominate private conversations about climate change and only occasionally make it to the official documents. These include statements like ‘can we trust them, we do need transparency and accountability, let us be honest, human rights must be respected, how do you deal with corruption, and we need a sense of responsibility, but others are worse than us’. These terms become very important in negotiations and are embedded and made invincible by the phrase ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’. They reflect the state of mind with which many delegates approach negotiations over climate change. They partly explain why progress is slow. It is very important that we overcome these barriers develop the trust, and commit to what can truly make a difference for the future generations.
The rich countries have the knowledge, technology and the capital. Many have already begun to adapt and mitigate against climate change at the local level. Many are already on that path and are investing heavily in alternative sources of energy. Unfortunately, either the threat is not strong enough or because the technology is available, people in the industrialized countries feel that they can adequately deal with the challenge. The threat can be controlled.
It is those who are vulnerable, who must work very hard to convince the rest of the world that the threat is real and will affect those who are comfortable. It is indeed also a security issue. In a scenario where the world would face mass movements of people from regions adversely affected by sea rise, floods, crop failure and even conflicts, many countries would face a flood of refugees or masses of people who need shelter, food and security. Therefore, we must find a common ground for partnership that is based on a willingness to be fair, just, but also visionary.

Having said that let me share with you some of the initiatives that we have put in place:

We are particularly focused on tree planting, preventing deforestation and forest degradation (REDD +). In this connection the Heads of States of the Central African region appointed me the Good Will Ambassador of the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem to raise awareness about this forest. It is the 2nd largest ‘lung of the planet’, second only to the Amazon forest. The third lung is in South East Asia around Borneo and Indonesia). These tropical forests, as well as the arboreal forests in the Northern hemisphere form huge carbon sinks. They are more valuable to us standing and sustainably harvested than clear cut.

The British and the Norwegian Governments provided through their respective Prime Ministers, the Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown and the Rt. Hon. Jens Stoltenberg granted US$ 200m with which we established the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) as a global response to the climate crisis.

The Rt Hon. Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada and I were asked to co-chair the Fund which is hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB). We hope that more partners will come forward to support this Fund (rather establish new financial mechanisms) and especially with respect to funds for REDD+ for Africa. We are pleased that there was a general agreement on REDD+ in Copenhagen.

In connection with forest protection it is important to emphasize the need to hold timber companies responsible for sustainable harvesting of forests especially in developing countries, where they take advantage of weak and even corrupt governments, weak environmental laws and disempowered citizens to exploit forests using poor technologies and practices that would not be acceptable at their home countries. Besides, companies will leave protected or more expensive forests in their own countries and travel to less restrictive or poor countries to exploit forests there. It is therefore important to have an international code of conduct in timber trade to protect all forests. There is no point protecting forests in one region of the planet, only to allow timber companies to go and destroy other forests in another region. It defeats the whole purpose of REDD+.
Finally a few challenges in addressing the challenges of Climate change,

1.National laws need to respond to the challenges of Climate change (building zoning codes, protecting wetlands, forests and curbing deforestation by banning cultivation in forests, monocultures replacing indigenous forests, grazing in forests, loss of biodiversity, curbing soil erosion);

2. Dealing with drivers of deforestation (poverty, demand for agricultural land, cheap energy (wood) and grazing especially by pastoral communities, population pressure, desertification);

3. Need for public education on climate change to make the link between what they observe or suffer and the negative impact of climate change. Then they take steps towards adaptation (tree planting, water harvesting, soil conservation, saving biodiversity like seeds, and traditional knowledge);

4. Accessing financial resources (too many players, old practices of corruption, donor dependency, diverging resources to immediate needs etc);

5. The market place will be big and some people will be tricked by crooks and tricksters. Be careful who you entrust with your money for addressing climate change. If trust is lost, the goodwill will also be lost. Use established institutions who have a name and credibility to protect. Otherwise, you come, you pick the wrong partner and when you are ripped off you proclaim that the whole region cannot be trusted.

6. Walk the beaten path, African Development Bank, World Bank, United Nations etc.

Thank you.