U.N. chief says climate change poses as big a threat as war
When we were in school, assemblies were a chance to see something fun, like a juggler or a movie. How times change. Two months after taking office, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave his first climate-change speech, saying all kinds of gloomy things to an audience of schoolchildren from around the world. To wit: “The majority of the United Nations’ work still focuses on preventing and ending conflict, but the danger posed by war to all of humanity and to our planet is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming.” And: “In coming decades, changes in our environment and the resulting upheavals from droughts to inundated coastal areas to loss of arable land are likely to become a major driver of war and conflict.” And then there was: “The world needs a more coherent system of international environmental governance. Unfortunately my generation has been somewhat careless in looking after our one and only planet but I am hopeful that is finally changing.” See kids? Ban has hope.
