Secretary-General Calls for Partnerships That Show Low-Emissions

Future Possible With Technologies, Policies Available Today

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Conference on “A Green China and Harmonious World” in Tianjin City, China, today, 26 October:

I am pleased to send greetings to the decision makers, thinkers and business executives from across China and the world who are participating in this conference.  I thank you for working with each other and with the United Nations in our shared effort to transform the climate change crisis into an opportunity for safer, cleaner, sustainable green growth for all.

Climate change is the pre-eminent geopolitical issue of our time.  It rewrites the global equation for development, peace and prosperity.  It threatens markets, economies and development gains.  It can deplete food and water supplies, provoke conflict and migration, destabilize fragile societies and even topple Governments.

The world urgently needs a global climate agreement that is fair, ambitious and binding.  We need Governments to show flexibility and leadership at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.  We need more trust among nations, and more imagination, ambition and cooperation.  But we also need opinion-makers such as you to influence Governments, and businesses to demonstrate that investing in green technologies yields not only environmental gains but also large-scale economic growth.

I applaud the initiative by the Tianjin Municipal Government to make Tianjin an ecological city, and its efforts to promote cooperation on green technologies and policies that favour low emissions over current carbon-intensive models.  China and the world need more such initiatives.  Cooperation in sharing green technologies can and must be an important part of the outcome in Copenhagen.  We need partnerships that show that a low-emissions future is possible with the technologies and policies available today.  And we need a new model that enables developing countries to leapfrog the energy technologies of yesterday.

In all of these areas, this Conference can serve as a catalyst. Your ideas and partnerships, and the synergies among you, can help us find a safer, more prosperous and sustainable path.  Thank you for your support.

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For information media • not an official record