Ban to NGOs
“There can be no success without a healthy civil society. Please, do your part. Help these women’s groups, social media activists, human rights defenders and others to take their rightful place in society – in government, in parliament, in every public institution,” he said.
He said the voices of NGOs will also be crucial as the world forges a common agenda for sustainable peace, prosperity, freedom and justice, noting their support will be required in promoting sustainable development and disarmament.
He expressed his appreciation to NGOs that have been fully engaged on the issues of climate change and the preservation of the world’s biodiversity since the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992; and he urged them to build on the same spirit during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in the same city in June next year.
He welcomed their decision to make disarmament the focus of their annual joint conference with the UN Department of Public Information in Mexico City two years ago, noting it was one of the largest assemblies of disarmament NGOs ever held.
“We need you to keep pushing – for greater transparency, for deeper reductions in arsenals, and for more ratifications of disarmament treaties, above all the CTBT [Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty],” said Mr. Ban. “Too many people dismiss
disarmament as a pie-in-the-sky ideal. Let us work together to bring disarmament down to earth.”
He stressed that one of the lessons he had learned as Secretary-General was the power of partnerships – working in concert with the business community, civil society, philanthropists and faith leaders.
“Thanks to the power of partnership, we are closing in on a day when we can eliminate deaths from malaria. Our target is 2015. By that time, we expect that there will be no malaria-related deaths.
“It [partnership] is the operational strategy underlying our new initiative for maternal and child health, ‘Every Woman Every Child’. That is also our approach with the new ‘Sustainable Energy for All’ initiative. Together, in close coordination and cooperation, we can achieve outsized results on virtually every aspect of our shared agenda.”
The Secretary-General also stressed the need for NGOs to continue supporting those in need despite dwindling resources in the current difficult economic times when budgets are being cut and austerity measures instituted.
“Everywhere, people are living in fear – fear of losing their jobs, fear of being unable to feed their families, fear that governments and public institutions will fail them yet again.
“It is up to us – organizations like yours and mine – to help restore that faith. To deliver for people in need. The austerity challenge is not merely about quantity; it is about quality. It is not merely about ‘doing more with less’ but
about ‘doing better with less’,” he said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Welcoming the 7th Billion Child
According to UN estimates, the world’s 7 billionth citizen will be born on 31 October.
Today’s forum in Copenhagen, initiated by the Danish Government, and organized by The 3G Global Green Growth Institute, aims to create new and expand existing public-private partnerships in areas including energy efficiency, renewable resources, sustainable transport and water.
“The three Gs of Global Green Growth must respond to social, economic and environmental challenges equally, because we live in an era of three Fs: crises on Food, Fuel and Finance. So we need to enhance the three Es: the Economy, the Environment and global Equity,” Mr. Ban said, stressing that the old economic models are not working for the countries and companies that embraced them.
He noted that while 20 per cent of the world’s people lack basic electricity services and nearly 3 billion burn biomass, far too many rely on depletable energy sources and use them unsustainably.
“This world of plenty and poverty cannot be sustained,” he stressed. “We need to marshal all forces to power progress in a way that protects our planet and promotes the welfare of all people.
“We need to come together – rich and poor. We need CEOs (chief executive officers), investors, utility companies and renewable energy businesses, government officials and research scientists. We need bold and bankable solutions.”
He envisioned a world for 2030 where all people have modern energy services and the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy in the global mix is doubled.
Mr. Ban cited several recent examples as way stations on the road to this vision: the Danish company Maersk’s designing of the world’s most efficient container ships that cut carbon emissions by half; the Mexican Eurus wind farm in Oaxaca that will supply one quarter of the country’s energy needs; and the plans of LG Electronics in the Republic of Korea to invest $7 billion in
electric car batteries, LED lighting and solar panels.
“I appreciate this engagement. But my message to all countries is the same: we need to do more,” he said. “Together, we can generate a clean energy transformation, set the world on course for low-carbon growth, and create conditions for a truly sustainable future.”
Asked at a later news conference about the absence of the United States from the forum, he said he believed the US is very much
committed to realizing green growth.
In a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Mr. Ban discussed the forum’s goals as well as the situation in Sudan, Afghanistan and those countries affected by the Arab Spring, such as Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt.
Mr. Ban visited the site of the new UN City in Copenhagen, which is being built to bring together under one roof the more than 1,000 UN employees in what is the world’s sixth largest UN city, and told a town-hall meeting of staff that this will help to strengthen not only the UN’s visibility in Denmark, but facilitate inter-agency communication, coordination and cooperation.
He said the voices of NGOs will also be crucial as the world forges a common agenda for sustainable peace, prosperity, freedom and justice, noting their support will be required in promoting sustainable development and disarmament.
He expressed his appreciation to NGOs that have been fully engaged on the issues of climate change and the preservation of the world’s biodiversity since the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992; and he urged them to build on the same spirit during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in the same city in June next year.
He welcomed their decision to make disarmament the focus of their annual joint conference with the UN Department of Public Information in Mexico City two years ago, noting it was one of the largest assemblies of disarmament NGOs ever held.
“We need you to keep pushing – for greater transparency, for deeper reductions in arsenals, and for more ratifications of disarmament treaties, above all the CTBT [Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty],” said Mr. Ban. “Too many people dismiss
disarmament as a pie-in-the-sky ideal. Let us work together to bring disarmament down to earth.”
He stressed that one of the lessons he had learned as Secretary-General was the power of partnerships – working in concert with the business community, civil society, philanthropists and faith leaders.
“Thanks to the power of partnership, we are closing in on a day when we can eliminate deaths from malaria. Our target is 2015. By that time, we expect that there will be no malaria-related deaths.
“It [partnership] is the operational strategy underlying our new initiative for maternal and child health, ‘Every Woman Every Child’. That is also our approach with the new ‘Sustainable Energy for All’ initiative. Together, in close coordination and cooperation, we can achieve outsized results on virtually every aspect of our shared agenda.”
The Secretary-General also stressed the need for NGOs to continue supporting those in need despite dwindling resources in the current difficult economic times when budgets are being cut and austerity measures instituted.
“Everywhere, people are living in fear – fear of losing their jobs, fear of being unable to feed their families, fear that governments and public institutions will fail them yet again.
“It is up to us – organizations like yours and mine – to help restore that faith. To deliver for people in need. The austerity challenge is not merely about quantity; it is about quality. It is not merely about ‘doing more with less’ but
about ‘doing better with less’,” he said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Welcoming the 7th Billion Child
According to UN estimates, the world’s 7 billionth citizen will be born on 31 October.
Today’s forum in Copenhagen, initiated by the Danish Government, and organized by The 3G Global Green Growth Institute, aims to create new and expand existing public-private partnerships in areas including energy efficiency, renewable resources, sustainable transport and water.
“The three Gs of Global Green Growth must respond to social, economic and environmental challenges equally, because we live in an era of three Fs: crises on Food, Fuel and Finance. So we need to enhance the three Es: the Economy, the Environment and global Equity,” Mr. Ban said, stressing that the old economic models are not working for the countries and companies that embraced them.
He noted that while 20 per cent of the world’s people lack basic electricity services and nearly 3 billion burn biomass, far too many rely on depletable energy sources and use them unsustainably.
“This world of plenty and poverty cannot be sustained,” he stressed. “We need to marshal all forces to power progress in a way that protects our planet and promotes the welfare of all people.
“We need to come together – rich and poor. We need CEOs (chief executive officers), investors, utility companies and renewable energy businesses, government officials and research scientists. We need bold and bankable solutions.”
He envisioned a world for 2030 where all people have modern energy services and the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy in the global mix is doubled.
Mr. Ban cited several recent examples as way stations on the road to this vision: the Danish company Maersk’s designing of the world’s most efficient container ships that cut carbon emissions by half; the Mexican Eurus wind farm in Oaxaca that will supply one quarter of the country’s energy needs; and the plans of LG Electronics in the Republic of Korea to invest $7 billion in
electric car batteries, LED lighting and solar panels.
“I appreciate this engagement. But my message to all countries is the same: we need to do more,” he said. “Together, we can generate a clean energy transformation, set the world on course for low-carbon growth, and create conditions for a truly sustainable future.”
Asked at a later news conference about the absence of the United States from the forum, he said he believed the US is very much
committed to realizing green growth.
In a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Mr. Ban discussed the forum’s goals as well as the situation in Sudan, Afghanistan and those countries affected by the Arab Spring, such as Libya, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt.
Mr. Ban visited the site of the new UN City in Copenhagen, which is being built to bring together under one roof the more than 1,000 UN employees in what is the world’s sixth largest UN city, and told a town-hall meeting of staff that this will help to strengthen not only the UN’s visibility in Denmark, but facilitate inter-agency communication, coordination and cooperation.
