THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS
Only a few newscasts gave major coverage to it, but on September 24 a special high-level conference at the United Nations entitled THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS on Global Climate Change took place in New York. It was an event requested by the new Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. It was the first of its kind at the United Nations where heads of state themselves, from all over the globe, and not just ambassadors, came together to discuss environmental changes taking place on the planet and what could be done. It was the first of a series of conferences that will continue the discussion.
In the official sessions, dignitaries such as German Chancellor (Mme. Angela Merkel), Prince Albert of Monaco, President of Finland (Mme. Tarja Halonen), Prime Minister of Turkey (Erdogan), the Chancellor of Austria (Alfred Gusenbauer), the President of Lebanon (Emile Lahoud), the President of Ecuador (Correa), the Head of the European Commission (Jose Manuel Barroso), the Prime Minister of Sweden (Reinfeld) and the President of Portugal (Socrates) who is also the current head of the European Council of Ministers, the President of Indonesia (Bambang Yudhoyono), and the President of Guyana (Jagdeo) to name just a few, addressed each other and NGOs who were present in small sessions discussing the critical issues.
Each of the heads of states wanted to emphasize that this is not to be seen as a political issue, but a global issue and the consensus was that if we do not act now – whatever it costs to make the change will only increase in the future! Expectations are that temperatures could rise by as much as 2-4 degrees centigrade (3.2 – 7 degrees F) by the year 2100 which is expected to cause major extinctions around the globe. Doing something now would reduce that to 1-2 degrees centigrade (2-3 degrees F.).
According to the Environmental Minister of Ireland (John Gormley) we have only 10 years to curb the problem of the greenhouse gases or humankind would be effectively diminished by the vast climate change. Continued greenhouse emissions at or above current rates are inducing larger climatic changes than those observed in the 20th century and according to some scientists are expected to cause massive damage to the environment as well as trigger the rise of sea levels of the oceans by as much as one meter before the end of the 21st century.
Most leaders were calling for a 20-30% reduction of CO2 from 1990s levels by the year 2020.
More specifically, the Environmental Minister of Haiti mentioned to everyone that his country had been a victim of 7 hurricanes since 2004 which cost the country 7% of their GDP.
The President of Guyana mentioned how he had set aside 1 million forested acres in his country as a preserve for biodiversity, but for this he has received no compensation and it is very difficult to stop people who need fire wood for cooking from cutting down trees. He said if you say to a mother and her child, “You cannot cut down the tree to cook your meal because the planet needs the trees” she simply would not understand. However, he is well aware that 23% of greenhouse gas emissions in his region come directly from deforestation (the burning of trees).
Denmark’s Prime Minister Rasmussen was proud of his country’s achievements where more than 25% of their electricity production stems from renewable sources – in particular from wind and biomass. Of their “total energy consumption” 15% stems from renewable sources, and by 2025, his stated goal is to double the share to at least 30%.
The President of Ecuador mentioned “Climate Change does not have borders … In the last years, the climate disasters have cost the lives of more than 3 million people in the world, 800 million [were made] victims and immediate damages surpass 23,000 million dollars. Of these damages, 90% have happened in the developing countries.” He went on to say how the government of Ecuador has agreed to not exploit crude oil that is underground in the Yasuni-ITT region in order to preserve the area, forgoing the possibilities of 90 million petroleum barrels per year. He points out that this will be an economic loss to his country on the order of 720 million dollars per year (at the current 80 dollars a barrel). He was wondering if the world community could supply him with a mere 5 dollars a barrel for not removing the oil as an example of world-wide collective action to reduce the global warming in benefit of the entire planet.
Finally, we were impressed with the way Mr. Lahoud, the President of Lebanon, ended his speech: “It is time to reclaim…sustainable environmental peace. The United Nations should not only be a global political peacemaker, it is bound to become the guarantor of a sustainable environment.…Nature is not the enemy; it is the mother’s womb, yet in God’s revelation in the Old Testament, the fifth Commandment said, ‘Honor your father and your mother.'” Then he added: “I find no better way to end but by quoting the Lebanese poet philosopher Khalil Gibran: ‘Advance and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path…'”
We all know that positive changes can be made on this planet to help to bring about a better future if we turn to both new technologies as well as a more global consciousness way of thinking.
For those who are interested in more of these issues, please see our upcoming Future History journal for Winter 2007 as well as the links at the bottom of this message, and keep working and praying together to make real change!
Dr. Dr. J.J. Hurtak and Desiree Hurtak,
The Academy for Future Science
Important links:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalWarming/
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070130144355.3d4dht2o&show_article=1
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070406-global-warming.html?source=rss
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/coastal/SLRLandUse.html
For the USA (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33849.pdf)