Bangkok--29 Sep--UNISBKK
ESCAP Chief speaks at opening of Bangkok climate talks
Countries in the region are poised and willing to pursue their development interests in an environmentally sound way but needed assistance to make it happen, said Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), today.
“Developing countries in our region have the potential to achieve a resource-efficient, low-carbon development pathway, but they cannot be expected to do this alone,” Dr. Heyzer said in opening remarks to the Bangkok Climate Change Talks taking place at the United Nations Conference Centre.
“Let us work together in Bangkok so that there is a breakthrough on the arrangements and provisions for finance and technology for developing countries, which is key to unlocking the current impasse.”
Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are meeting from 28 September to 9 October in Bangkok for the next-to-last round of negotiations before a December conference in Copenhagen to finalize a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Following is the full text of opening remarks by Dr. Heyzer at the Opening Session of the United Nations Climate Change Talks on 28 September 2009 in Bangkok :
H.E. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand ,
Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary UNFCCC,
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, UN Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a joy for me to welcome you to the United Nations Climate Change Talks here in Bangkok . Much has happened over the past year and a half since we last met in Bangkok . The world has been hit by triple threats to development — the food-fuel, finance and flu crises. It is still too early to tell if we have fully weathered this storm. What we do know is that nations have been able to turn these threats into opportunities by working together to seek collective solutions. We were able to find the money to prevent the meltdown of our global financial system. We need to find the same commitment and resources to prevent a meltdown of our planet.
If climate change is the challenge of our generation it also presents the opportunity of our generation. We need to set aside our differences in this race against time.
Fortunately at last week’s UN summit, convened by the Secretary General, nearly 100 world leaders gave strong political commitment to reach a consensus in Copenhagen . Major nations came forward with new pledges:
- China promised to reduce the carbon footprint of its economy by a notable margin by 2020;
- Japan plans to reduce its emissions by 25 per cent by 2020 compared to the 1990 levels;
- The EU intends reduce its emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 if others join in.
In the last year a number of high-level forums have been organized in the Asia-Pacific region on low-carbon economies and societies. Many of the initiatives are from the Governments of the Republic of Korea , China and the Philippines , implemented in cooperation with ESCAP and other UN organizations. ESCAP, the regional arm of the United Nations, has worked with our Member States to develop a stronger, coordinated regional voice, and they have issued a call for action — a call for low-carbon green growth that is high on development to reduce poverty and disparity.
We need to have a development-oriented solution, in which the goal of limiting emissions is integrated with satisfying people's development needs. Developing countries in our region have the potential to achieve a resource-efficient, low-carbon development pathway, but they cannot be expected to do this alone. We are faced with a shared problem that requires a global, and above all, a multi-lateral solution based on common but differentiated responsibilities. Let us work together in Bangkok so that there is a breakthrough on the arrangements and provisions for finance and technology for developing countries which is key to unlocking the current impasse.
Excellencies,
We are at a historical turning point. The earths’ gifts which we take for granted are no longer guaranteed. We have borrowed this earth from our children. We now need to make sure they can inherit a world fit for all. Unless we take action now, our children and their children’s generation will look back on us and ask what we did and why it took us so long to act. An inclusive and sustainable future is within reach. This future rests in your hands.
For more information please contact:
Mr. Mitch Hsieh
UN/ESCAP Information Services
Tel: +66-2-288-1862
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Bentley Jenson
UN/ESCAP Information Services
Tel: +66-2-288-1869
Email: [email protected]