UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon organized a truly historic event today: the Summit on Climate Change. President Obama was among the many speakers. Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, and one of the critical voices within the Obama Administration for a robust and progressive approach to meeting the challenge of climate change, posted this entry today at the White House blog in which she said “Today we called on all nations to not simply seek an agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, but to seek an agreement that will allow all nations to grow and raise living standards without endangering our planet.”
The President, in his speech, noted that the world, including the US, had lagged on confronting the crisis. “It is true that for too many years, mankind has been slow to respond or even recognize the magnitude of the climate threat. It is true of my own country, as well. We recognize that.” He went, though to say: “But this is a new day. It is a new era. And I am proud to say that the United States has done more to promote clean energy and reduce carbon pollution in the last eight months than at any other time in our history.”
The UN website has all of today’s speeches, with text and video, archived here, including those of President Obama; the SG; Dr. Pachauri, the IPCC Chair; Hu Jintao, the leader of the PRC; Yukio Hatoyama, the brand-new Japanese PM; and Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France. There are several press conferences here as well, and the United Nations Leadership Forum on Climate Change, which brought together top international Governments, Business, and Civil Society leaders. (See Sept. 22, 2009.)
Here is a look at some of the day’s events from the AP and excerpts of the President’s speech.
