DOHA: Addressing the problem of climate change must become a core national interest of every UN member country. It should become embedded in the worldview of all who formulate and execute foreign policy, Vuk Jeremic (pictured), President, UN General Assembly, has said.
Here, in Doha, we are dealing with a threat to the future of our planet that is unrivalled in its cataclysmic effects. I applaud UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s leadership in delivering the message that climate change and environmental degradation are destroying our path to sustainability, Vuk said while addressing the opening ceremony of the high-level segment of COP18/CMP8 here yesterday.
The increased support by the General Assembly for the great efforts of the delegations to successive COPs can help spur the world to more rapid and concerted action. I am ready to do my best to engage the General Assembly so we can act more in concert with one another, he said.
Vuk said he intend to schedule a high-level thematic debate on the subject of climate change, green energy and water sustainability during the resumed part of the 67th Session. It will aim to increase political awareness and support for the benefits of embracing the paradigm shift to renewable, low-carbon energy systems.
“This may help sharpen the lens through which diplomats look at the underlying challenges. I hope that the “new normal” that the Secretary-General and others talk about can become associated first and foremost with sustainable development and return to prosperity-not financial sacrifice and privation. One of the strongest supporters of such an approach is the newly established United Nations.”
Vuk wished the Parties to the Convention success in their negotiations. The window of opportunity to prevent the effects of climate change from spiraling out of our control is closing. When future generations look upon the choices we made, let them not be forced to exclaim that we failed to act in time.
“Let them not have to suffer the consequences of the inability to answer the clarion call to act with conscientious foresight. I’m afraid that we cannot say-as those who came before us could-that we did not know the extent of the damage we were causing”.
It is our urgent duty-both as individuals and nations, to achieve the breakthrough that allows us to leave the world in a better shape than we found it in.
The Peninsula
