Global Humanitarian Forum, Kofi Annan, 23 June 2009, Geneva

Update 2  13:01  Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “This conference must provide a powerful voice for the victims of climate change,” Kofi Annan said in opening remarks at the second annual Global Humanitarian Forum, Tuesday morning 23 June in Geneva. The forum is focusing on the impact on humans of climate change during the two day conference that brings together leaders from government, industry and academia.

“We have the knowledge, resources and the technology to reduce the pace of climate change,” said Annan. “What is  needed is the vision, the courage” to act. He cited as an example of a good private and public partnership a weather information project recently launched in Africa by the Global Humanitarian Forum, Ericsson, World Meterological Organization and mobile phone operators. “Collecting accurate information about weather and climate across Africa will give farmers better guidance about when to plant and harvest crops as well as helping alert communities about severe storms.”

The principle of “polluter must pay” will have to be put into effect at the local, regional and global level, said Annan, the forum’s president and former UN secretary-general, who is chairing the conference. He noted that “While economic meltdown has caused severe pain throughout world, the coordinated response is giving hope.”

Kofi Annan

Annan pointed to US President Obama’s administration optimistically. “A new President and new administration in the United States have demonstrated their seriousness about combating climate change. Given that the US is the greatest source of emissions, this raises optimism for Copenhagen and beyond,” he said, referring to the climate summit in Denmark in December 2009 to find a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

The Forum 29 May 2009 published a pre-conference document, “Human Impact Report: Climate Change – The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis”, that sparked heated debate in the opening session of the forum, where it was presented by Walter Fust, CEO and director of the Global Humanitarian Forum. Fust, a former Swiss ambassador, was previously head of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The report estimates that 300,000 deaths a year are due to climate change, many of those from health-related problems. Economic losses due to climate change amount to over $125 billion per year, more than the individual GDP of 73% of the world’s countries, states the report, and is greater than the total amount of aid that currently flows from industrialized countries to developing nations each year. Some four billion people live in places vulnerable to climate change.

“We cannot wait for 20 years for an unequivocal decision. These figures tell us the scale is truly huge and we cannot wait.” Fust insisted.

Margaret Chan, WHO

Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization and a panel member, rebuffed much of the criticism of the report. “We need to invest more” in getting better data, she agreed, but “It doesn’t matter if the numbers are high or low, what matters is the trend and the trend is going up.”

Chan insisted that greater attention needs to be paid to the links between climate change and human lives, to giving people the knowledge and tools to better manage climate change. “Educating girls, empowering women, that’s more important than anything you can do.” Her remarks were followed by a polite round of applause. “I think that should get more applause!” she baited the conference, prompting laughter and a strong round of clapping.

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