09/09/2011
- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday
(September 8) wrapped up a four-nation visit
to the South Pacific with a call for countries
to "connect the dots" between
issues such as climate change, food insecurity
and water scarcity and work towards ensuring
sustainable development for all.
"The sustainable
development agenda is the agenda for the
21st century", Mr. Ban told an audience
at the University of Sydney in Australia,
the last stop on a week-long trip that also
took the United Nations chief to the Solomon
Islands, Kiribati and New Zealand.
"We must keep working
to fight poverty, create decent jobs and
provide a dignified life while preserving
the planet that sustains us", he stated.
"Above all, that means connecting the
dots between challenges such as climate
change and water scarcity, energy shortages,
global health issues, food insecurity and
the empowerment of the world's women."
He noted that, while
on the surface, these might seem like distinct
issues, they are actually linked and it
is necessary to find those linkages.
"As Australia knows
too well", he pointed out, "extreme
weather events such as increased floods,
rains and droughts continue to grow more
frequent and intense as climate change accelerates.
They not only devastate lives, but wipe
out infrastructure, institutions, and budgets."
Climate change is one
of the greatest threats to the security,
well-being and livelihoods of the peoples
of the region. Mr. Ban got a first-hand
look at the impact of rising sea levels
on a visit to the low-lying island nation
of Kiribati, where he also joined young
people in planting mangroves on a beach
to help fight coastal erosion.
The Secretary-General
told the gathering in Sydney that scores
of countries are heading down a lower-carbon
path because they know it is good for their
economies and good for the health and well-being
of their people. He cited, among others,
the Sustainable Sydney initiative to reduce
carbon emissions in the city by 70 per cent
over the next 20 years.
"These actions
are vital on their own - but they can also
inspire progress in the global negotiations,
creating a virtuous cycle", he stated.
"This is a global race to save the
planet. But it is also a race to see which
countries and economies will forge the path
to creating green sustainable jobs. I hope
Australia will lead the way - for your own
good, as well as that of our planet."
Mr. Ban later travelled
to the capital, Canberra, where he participated
in a tree-planting event at the National
Arboretum with young school children in
an area that was burned out by a major fire
in 2003.
"The United Nations
is committed to make this world, this planet
greener and greener", he said, highlighting
the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) campaign
that aims to have at least one billion trees
planted worldwide each year. Mr. Ban planted
an olive tree, both as a symbol of peace
and because it helps to cut greenhouse gas
emissions which lead to global warming.
The Secretary-General
met with Australian Defence Minister Stephen
Smith, with whom he discussed strengthening
UN-Australian cooperation in areas such
as peacekeeping and human rights.
Australia was the first
country to contribute troops to a UN peacekeeping
mission, and since then has contributed
to the cause of peace in countries ranging
from Cambodia to Cyprus to Afghanistan.
Mr. Ban also visited
the Australian Federal Police's training
school for police being deployed to international
peacekeeping missions, and watched a training
exercise in which police cadets played the
part of rioters in a mock-Pacific Island
village.
Later he met the Governor-General
of Australia, Quentin Bryce, and attended
a dinner in his honour at Government House
during which he lauded the country's strong
support for the UN and its leadership on
various issues.
Source: UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
