[vsnet-chat 7127] Talk by Maathai

[Taichi Kato]

   Just to share the record of the historical moment:

===

Celebration of the Coming to Force of The Kyoto protocol
By Wangari Maathai
Kyoto, Japan
February 16, 2005

The Chair, Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Honored Guests, Ladies 
and Gentlemen,

Allow me to thank the organizers of this meeting for the excellent
arrangements and facilitation. I am particularly grateful to the
Mainichi Newspapers and the Ministries of Environment & Foreign 
Affairs, who worked together to make this trip possible, fruitful and 
very pleasant. My delegation and I are deeply indebted.

It is indeed a great honor for me to be here in this beautiful city of
Kyoto, amongst friends and associates, to witness and celebrate the
coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations 
Convention on Climate Change.

I take this opportunity to appreciate the recent decision by the
Norwegian Nobel Committee to expand our understanding of peace and
security. By awarding the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize to me for my
environmental work the committee brought sustainable management of the
environment to center stage.

As I have said before, although the glory and the honor have come to
me, it is recognition for all of us who work in the area of 
environment, democracy and peace. It is also recognition of the 
efforts of countless women especially in developing countries. I want 
to emphasize this because I want all of us to feel part of it and to 
be encourage by it.

If the world invested more in the environment, sustainable
development, good governance and equitable distribution of resources,
many of conflicts in the world would be pre-empted. The concept of 
peace has to be expanded to include the environment.

Today marks the end of a long process for the survival of all species
on the planet earth, including our own. It is also the beginning of an
even more engaging phase when the treaty must be implemented. We must
remain committed and focused. The biosphere needs the Kyoto Protocol 
and we welcome its coming into force.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of all us, I wish to record our appreciation to the 128
countries who have ratified the Protocol and the millions of their
citizens on whose behalf they endorsed it. Many of these citizens are
online celebrating with us.

I especially wish to congratulate the Japanese Government for its
contribution to the Kyoto process and for the committed leadership it
has and will continue to provide in the days ahead.

Thank you Japan.

We hope that we can rely on the group of the most industrialized
countries, The G8, to continue to prioritize Climate Change. This also
involves addressing the issues which make it difficult for poor
countries to make their contribution to this agenda. These issues
include the burden of international debts, trade barriers and lack of
adequate financial support to make the critical economic turn. Without
addressing these issues it will be difficult to realize the Millennium
Development Goals and make poverty history.

One of the questions that comes up often in the press is what I think
about countries that have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol yet. What I
say is that we should at this time be positive and look forward. We 
are here mark the coming to force of the treaty on Climate Change and 
we want to celebrate.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We all know, even in those countries where the Protocol is yet to be
ratified, there are millions of individual citizens and groups, who
subscribe to the spirit and letter of the Kyoto protocol. Let us join
them and celebrate with them.

We must remember that it is the actions of such individual citizens
that will ensure the Kyoto protocol yields fruits. Even if all
governments signed the treaty but citizens did not subscribe and take
action, the treaty would show no impact.

It is also those same citizens who will continue to urge their
governments to come along and join the rest of the world for the sake 
of life on our planet earth. They have enormous commitment and have 
taken personal steps to reduce over consumption and emissions of 
greenhouse gases. We applaud them and urge them to continue. They are 
on board.

Like them, we must believe in ourselves individually and collectively
and believe that we can make a difference. We must start with 
ourselves and continue taking those small personal steps to reduce 
the global rise in temperature. Together, we form a multitude and we 
can bring about the desired change- locally and globally.

Even though there is a general consensus that the issue of climate
change is urgent, the movement towards action is always slow in 
coming. This is because the projected negative impact on the 
environment is slow, away from every day occurrence and therefore, 
even disputable. It is also because many of us have become used to 
our lifestyle and are not easily persuaded to consume less and reduce 
greenhouse gases. Further, those of us who are rushing to catch up 
with the highly industrialized world are not willing to be persuaded 
to slow down.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The projected negative impact of climate change is also unfortunately
likely to negatively impact the next generation.

Researchers on climate change continue to warn that greenhouse gases
are already causing gradual rise in temperatures and that sensitive
habitats, water, food and fisheries are at risk. Scientists also 
predict that as these insecurities increase, they will cause mass 
movements of environmental refugees in search of water, food, grazing 
land and a better quality of life. Such movements would generate 
tension and conflict and cause mass movement of environmental 
refugees.

I encourage all of us to support initiatives from different groups and
regions. In developing countries we should encourage afforestation
programs and indeed the protection of already existing forests that
would provide carbon sinks.

In this connection, I wish to appeal to the international community to
pay attention to the Congo Basin, the largest ecological system in
Africa and the second largest in the world after the Amazon Basin. Its
survival is essential for the stability of the global climate. Indeed,
it is part of the global "lung."

In closing let me say, we live on a planet, whose resources are
finite. The current level of consumption of the planet's resources is
unsustainable.

My fellow world citizens, in view of the fact that the future
generations may bear the burden of our decisions today, let us apply 
the precautionary principle and curb the rising tide.

We are the generation that can still make a difference.

Domo Arigato. Thank you very much.