Secretary-General Arrives at UN After Solar-Powered Commute
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived at work at United Nations Headquarters this morning in environmental style, taking
the “Solartaxi” – a fully solar-powered car – from his home in New York to the Secretariat building.
Mr. Ban’s green commute occurred as part of the Secretary-General’s efforts since taking office to raise awareness about
climate change and to promote environmentally-friendly technologies.
The Solartaxi, which is sponsored by Switzerland, is currently in New York on a worldwide journey that included a stop in Bali,
Indonesia, last December for the landmark climate change negotiations.
The journey is slated to conclude in Poznan in early December to coincide with the Polish city hosting the next phase of
the international talks on measures to respond, mitigate and adapt to global warming.
Louis Palmer, the Solartaxi’s driver and developer, said he was on a mission to illustrate that solutions exist to deal
with some of the problems caused by climate change.
“As climate change doesn’t stop at borders, it’s a global problem and the UN is playing a central role in the fight to
stop global warming.”
Last month Mr. Ban began the “Cool UN” initiative at UN Headquarters to limit the use of air conditioning and heating,
slash greenhouse gas emissions and save money.
The thermostats in most parts of the landmark Secretariat building were raised by five degrees from 72 to 77 degrees
Fahrenheit during August, and the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems were shut down over the weekends.
This initiative has since been extended until mid-September.
ENDS