ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MASSACHUSETTS, 19-20 MAY

Secretary-General Kofi Annan travelled to Massachusetts on Saturday afternoon, 19 May.  He delivered the commencement address at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts, the next morning.

He told the graduates that global warming might be the greatest challenge their generation will have to face.  In his speech, the Secretary-General said that the world's leading climatologists have sifted the evidence and have concluded that "climate change is occurring, that human activities are among the main contributing factors, and that we cannot wait any longer to take action".

He added, "Contrary to popular belief, we do not face a choice between economy and ecology."  In fact, he said, the opposite is true, and that economic growth will not be sustained unless resources are protected.  (See Press Release SG/SM/7811 of 21 May.)

Speaking later to reporters, the Secretary-General was asked about United States President George W. Bush's policy on climate change.  He said he had the impression that the United States was willing to talk to others on the issue, and that the door was not completely shut. The test would come in July, he said, when climate change negotiations were due to resume in Bonn.

The Secretary-General also spoke briefly to the United Nations Association of the Greater Boston area, before returning to New York on Sunday afternoon.