Action On Climate Change Particularly Urgent, Annan Tells Environmental Seminar
New York, Oct 16 2006 1:00PM
With the growing number of ratifications of major environmental agreements suggesting that more countries are committed
to addressing global ecological issues, the true test remains implementation and enforcement, especially with regard to
greenhouse gases, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today.
“Action on climate change is particularly urgent, given its profound implications for virtually every aspect of human
well-being, from jobs and health to growth and security,” he said in a message to a seminar in New York organized by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
“Until we stop treating climate change as a strictly environmental concern, and instead recognize the full nature of
this threat, our action will fall short.”
He noted that last year’s World Summit at UN Headquarters decided on a number of measures aimed at protecting the global
environment, including a call for a more coherent institutional framework to tackle ecological challenges.
“Ensuring environmental sustainability is one of the main pillars of the global fight against poverty, and is essential
for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he said referring to the targets set by the UN Millennium summit of 2000 to dramatically slash poverty, illiteracy,
matῥrnal and infant mortality and a host of other global ills by 2015.
Ensuring environmental sustainability is number seven on the list of eight goals.
The Fourth IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium will continue until 20 October at the Pace Law School, White
Plains, New York, on the theme “Implementing Environmental Legislation: The Critical Role of Enforcement and
Compliance.”
ends