Your Royal Highness,
exellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
The pandemic has taught us that national solutions to
global problems do not work.
We come to Glasgow with global ambition
to save our people and to save our planet.
But we now find three gaps.
On mitigation, climate pledges or NDCs:
Without more, we will
leave the world on a pathway to 2.7 degrees, and with more,
we are still likely to get to two degrees.
These commitments, made by some,
are based on technologies yet to be developed,
and this is at best reckless and at worst
dangerous. On finance:
We are 20 billion dollars short of the 100 billion.
And this commitment, even then, might only be met in 2023.
On adaptation: Adaptation
finance remains only at 25%,
not the 50/50 split that was promised —
nor needed, given the warming that is already taking
place on this Earth.
Climate finance — the front line small island
developing states — declined by 25% in 2019.
Failure to provide the critical finance
and that of loss and damage is measured, my friends,
in lives and livelihoods in our communities.
This is immoral and it is unjust. If Glasgow
is to deliver on the promises of Paris, it must close
these three gaps.
So I ask to you: What must we say to our people
living on the front line in the Caribbean?
In Africa? In Latin America? In the Pacific?
When both ambition
and, regrettably, some of
the needed faces at Glasgow, are not present?
What excuse should we give for the failure?
In the words of that Caribbean icon, Eddy
Grant: Will they mourn us on the front line?
When will we, as world leaders across the world,
address the pressing issues
that are truly causing our people angst and worry,
whether it is climate or whether it is vaccines?
Simply put, when will leaders lead?
Our people are watching and our people are taking note.
And are we really going to leave Scotland
without the resolve and the ambition that is
sorely needed to save lives and to save our planet?
How many more voices
and how many more pictures of people
must we see on these screens without being able to move?
Are we so blinded and hardened that we can
no longer appreciate the cries of humanity?
I have been saying
to Barbadians for
many years that many hands make light work.
Today, we need the correct mix of voices,
ambition and action.
Do some leaders in this world believe that they can survive
and thrive on their own?
Have they not learned from the pandemic?
Can there be peace and prosperity if one third of
the world literally prospers
and the other two thirds of the world live under
siege and face calamitous threats to our well-being?
What the world needs now, my friends, is that
which is within the ambit of less than 200 persons
who are willing and prepared to lead.
Leaders must not fail those who elect them to lead.
And I say to you, there is a sword
that can cut down this Gordian knot,
and it has been wielded before.
The central banks of the wealthiest countries
engaged in 25 trillion dollars
of quantitative easing in the last 13 years. Twenty-five trillion!
Of that, nine trillion
was in the last 18 months to fight the pandemic.
Had we used that 25 trillion to purchase bonds,
to finance the energy transition, or the transition
of how we eat or how we move ourselves in transport,
we would now, today,
be reaching that 1.5 degrees limit that is so vital to us.
I say to you today in Glasgow
that an annual increase in the SDRs of 500 billion dollars
a year for 20 years, put in a trust to
finance the transition, is the real gap,
Secretary General, that we need to close.
Not the 50 billion being proposed for adaptation.
And if 500 billion sounds big to you, guess what?
It is just 2% of the 25 trillion.
This is the sword we need to wield. Our excitement
one hour into this event is far less than it
was six months ago leading up to this event.
Can we — with those voices, and these speeches from
Sir David and others — find it within ourselves
to get the resolve to bring Glasgow back on track?
Or do we leave today believing
that it was a failure before it starts? Our world,
my friends, stands at a fork in the road,
one no less significant
than when the United Nations was formed in 1945.
But then, the majority of our countries here did not exist.
We exist now. The difference is, we want to exist
100 years from now.
And if our existence is to mean anything,
then we must act in the interests
of all of our people who are dependent on us.
And if we don't,
we will allow the path of greed and selfishness
to sow the seeds of our common destruction.
The leaders of today — not 2030, not 2050 —
must make this choice.
It is in our hands. And our people and our planet
need it more than ever.
We can work with who is ready to go.
Because the train
is ready to leave. And those who are not yet ready,
we need to continue to
ring-circle, and to remind them that their people —
not our people, but their citizens — need
them to get on board as soon as possible.
Code red, code red
to the G7 countries. Code red, code red to the G20.
Earth to COP. That's what it said? Earth to COP?
For those who have eyes
to see, for those who have ears to listen
and for those who have a heart to feel,
1.5 is what we need to survive. Two degrees —
yes, S.G. — is a death sentence
for the people of Antigua and Barbuda, for
the people of the Maldives, for the people of Dominica
and Fiji, for the people of Kenya and Mozambique,
and yes, for the people of Samoa and Barbados.
We do not want that dreaded death sentence.
And we have come here today to say: Try harder.
Try harder, because our people, the climate army,
the world, the planet needs our actions now,
not next year, not in the next decade. Thank you.
Your Royal Highness,
exellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
The pandemic has taught us that national solutions to
global problems do not work.
We come to Glasgow with global ambition
to save our people and to save our planet.
But we now find three gaps
on mitigation climate pledges, or NDCs.
Without more, we will
leave the world on a pathway to 2.7 degrees and with more,
we are still likely to get to two degrees.
These commitments made by some
are based on technologies yet to be developed,
and this is at best reckless and at worst
dangerous on finance.
We are $20 billion short of the 100 billion,
and this commitment even then, may only be met in 2023.
On adaptation, adaptation
finance remains only 25%,
not the 5050 split that was promised,
nor need it given the warming that is already taking
place on this Earth.
Climate finance the front lines small island
developing states declined by 25% in 2019.
Failure to provide the critical finance
and that of loss and damage is measured in my friends,
in lives and livelihoods in our communities.
This is immoral and it is unjust. If Glasgow
is to deliver on the promises of Paris, it must close
these three gaps.
So I say to you, what must we say to our people
living on the front line in the Caribbean
and Africa and Latin America and the Pacific,
when both ambition
and regrettably some of
the needed faces at Glasgow are not present?
What excuse should we give for the failure
in the words of that Caribbean icon Eddie
Grant? Within or less on the front line?
When will we, as world leaders across the world,
address the pressing issues
that are truly causing our people angst and worry,
whether it is climate or whether it is vaccines?
Simply put, when will leaders lead?
Our people are watching and our people are taking note.
And are we really going to leave Scotland
without the resolve and the ambition that is
sorely needed to save lives and to save our planet?
How many more voices
and how many more pictures of people
must we see on these screens without being able to move?
Are we so blinded and hardened that we can
no longer appreciate the cries of humanity?
I have been saying
to Barbadians for
many years that many hands make light work.
Today we need the correct mix of voices,
ambition and action.
Do some leaders in this world believe that they can survive
and thrive on their own?
Have they not learned from the pandemic?
Can there be peace and prosperity if one third of
the world literally prospers
and the other two thirds of the world live under
siege and face calamitous threats to our wellbeing?
What the world needs, no, my friends, is that
which is within the ambit of less than 200 persons
who are willing and prepared to lead.
Leaders must not fail those who elected them to lead.
And I say to you, there is a sword
that can cut down this Gordian knot,
and it has been wielded before
the central banks of the wealthiest countries
engaged in $25 trillion
of quantitative easing in the last 13 years, 25 trillion
of that 9 trillion
was in the last 18 months to fight the pandemic.
How do we use that 25 trillion to purchase bonds
to finance the energy transition or the transition
of how we eat or how we move ourselves in transport?
We would know today
be reaching that 1.5 degrees limit that is so vital to us.
I say to you today in Glasgow
that an annual increase in the SDR is a $500 billion
a year for 20 years put in a trust. The.
Finance, the transition is the real job,
secretary general, that we need to close,
not the 50 billion being proposed for adaptation
and at 500 billion sounds big to you. Guess what?
It is just 2% of the 25 trillion.
This is a sword we need to wield. Our excitement
one hour into this event is far less than it
was six months ago leading up to this event.
Can we with those voices and these speeches from Sir
David and others find it within ourselves
to get the resolve to bring Glasgow back on track?
Or do we leave today believing
that it was a failure before it starts our world?
My friends stands at a fork in the road,
one no less significant
than when the United Nations was formed in 1945.
But then the majority of our countries here did not exist.
We exist now. The difference is we want to exist
100 years from now.
And if our existence is to mean anything,
then we must act in the interests
of all of our people who are dependent on us.
And if we don't,
we will allow the path of greed and selfishness
to sow the seeds of our common destruction.
The leaders of today, not 2030, not 2050,
must make this choice.
It is in our hands and our people and our planet
need it more than ever.
We can work with who is ready to go
because the train
is ready to leave and those who are not yet ready.
We need to continue to
ring circle and to remind them that their people,
not our people, but their citizens need
them to get on board as soon as possible.
Code Red Code Red
to the G7 countries, code red code red to the G20
Earth the cop. That's what it said. Earth to call
for those who have eyes
to see. For those who have ears to listen
and for those who have a heart to fear.
1.5 is what we need to survive two degrees.
Yes, S.G. is a death sentence
for the people of Antigua and Barbuda, for
the people of the Maldives, for the people of Dominica
and Fiji, for the people of Kenya and Mozambique,
and yes, for the people of Samoa and Barbados.
We do not want that dreaded death sentence
and we have come here today to see try harder,
try harder because our people, the IT army,
the world, the planet needs our actions now,
not next year, not in the next decade. Thank you.