General Assembly Concludes Two-Day Climate Change Event with Speakers Urging Sustained Political Momentum for Robust Actions to Mitigate Impacts.
The President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Sam Kutesa held a high level meeting on Climate Change at United Nations Headquarters in New York (ECOSOC) – to ensure that leaders take ambitious decisions to reduce poverty, inequality and to take actions that protects our planet.
Ministers, high-level officials and representatives of more than 60 Member States delivered statements over the two-day gathering, which also heard from experts from international organizations, civil society and the public and private sectors during interactive discussions on mobilizing stakeholders and a political momentum for ambitious actions on mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation.
Participating in the interactive dialogue, including at the ministerial level, were representatives of Suriname, Kenya, Azerbaijan, Panama, Chile, Mexico, Sierra Leone, India, Japan, Angola, Spain, Germany (on behalf of the G7), Rwanda (on behalf of the African Group), Trinidad and Tobago (on behalf of the Caribbean Community), Maldives (on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States), Guatemala (on behalf of the Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean), Australia, Lebanon, New Zealand and Hungary. A representative of the African Union also participated, as did a representative of Action Aid in Bangladesh.
Opening the afternoon session ahead of the second panel on day 1 was Robert Redford, actor and environmental activist, said: “Your mission is as simple as it is daunting — to save the world before it is too late.” He said “This is our only planet. This may be our last chance.”
Xiuhtezcatl Roske Martinez, a 15-year-old civil society representative, said it would take truly united action to save the planet for his generation and those unborn. “Seeing my world collapsing around me pushed me to action,” he said, urging people to see climate change as a clear and present danger.
The Founder and Executive Director of Global Connections for Women Foundation, Lilian O. Ajayi was among the key speakers at the Climate Event of the President of the General Assembly. In her address concerning the impact of Climate Change on rural women and girls in Africa;
“I am here TODAY as the daughter of the Chief Temitope Ajayi (Mama Diaspora). I am here representing the voices of the rural women and girls in Africa – I am a mother and child in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, to name a few. I represent the voices of the women farmers who are without the means of providing for their families because of the adverse impact of Climate Change” said Lilian O. Ajayi at the UN General Assembly Meeting on Climate Change. Read the un press release.
The World We Want Millennium Development Goals team also had the “People’s Voices” board campaign display with cloud soversidra virtual reality at the UN.
