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By Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General
Addiction is a terrible thing. It consumes and
controls us, makes us deny important truths and blinds us to the
consequences of our actions. Our world is in the grip of a dangerous
carbon habit.
Coal and oil paved the way for the developed
world’s industrial progress. Fast-developing countries are now
taking the same path in search of equal living standards. Meanwhile,
in the least developed countries, even less sustainable energy
sources, such as charcoal, remain the only available option for the
poor.
Our dependence on carbon-based energy has caused
a significant build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Last
year, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change put the final nail in the coffin of global warming
skeptics. We know that climate change is happening, and we know that
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that we emit are the
cause.
We don’t just burn carbon in the form of
fossil fuels. Throughout the tropics, valuable forests are being
felled for timber and making paper, for pasture and arable land and,
increasingly, for plantations to supply a growing demand for
biofuels. This further manifestation of our carbon habit not only
releases vast amounts of CO2; it also destroys a valuable resource
for absorbing atmospheric carbon, further contributing to climate
change.
The environmental, economic and political
implications of global warming are profound. Ecosystems—from
mountain to ocean, from the Poles to the tropics—are undergoing
rapid change. Low-lying cities face inundation, fertile lands are
turning to desert, and weather patterns are becoming ever more
unpredictable.
The cost will be borne by all. The poor will be
hardest hit by weather-related disasters and by soaring price
inflation for staple foods, but even the richest nations face the
prospect of economic recession and a world in conflict over
diminishing resources. Mitigating climate change, eradicating
poverty and promoting economic and political stability all demand
the same solution: we must kick the carbon habit. This is the theme
for World Environment Day 2008. “Kick the Habit: Towards a Low
Carbon Economy,” recognizes the damaging extent of our addiction,
and it shows the way forward.
Often we need a crisis to wake us to reality.
With the climate crisis upon us, businesses and governments are
realizing that, far from costing the Earth, addressing global
warming can actually save money and invigorate economies. While the
estimated costs of climate change are incalculable, the price tag
for fighting it may be less than any of us may have thought. Some
estimates put the cost at less than one per cent of global gross
domestic product—a cheap price indeed for waging a global war.
Even better news is that technologies already
exist or are under development to make our consumption of
carbon-based fuels cleaner and more efficient and to harness the
renewable power of sun, wind and waves. The private sector, in
particular, is competing to capitalize on what they recognize as a
massive business opportunity.
Around the world, nations, cities, organizations
and businesses are looking afresh at green options. At the United
Nations, I have instructed that the plan for renovating our New York
headquarters should follows strict environmental guidelines. I have
also asked the chief executives of all UN programs, funds and
specialized agencies to move swiftly towards carbon neutrality.
Earlier this year, the UN Environment Program
launched a climate neutral network—CN Net—to energize this
growing trend. Its inaugural members, which include countries,
cities and companies, are pioneers in a movement that I believe will
increasingly define environmental, economic and political discourse
and decision making over the coming decades.
The message of World Environment Day 2008 is
that we are all part of the solution. Whether you are an individual,
an organization, a business or a government, there are many steps
you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. It is a message we all
must take to heart.
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