Q: (translated from Russian): You personally pay great attention to challenges of climate change, the environment. Today major changes are taking place in the world. Financial and economic crises profoundly affect the whole range of global issues. The situation in the United States has changed; there is a new administration. There are also many other changes elsewhere. If we look at all these shifts in their totality, what is your take on this? How are the changes affecting our joint efforts to move forward protection of the environment and to mitigate climate change?

SG: This is the most commonly asked question, and this is the concern which most of the people in the world have: whether we can overcome both crises –the climate change crisis and the financial crisis. My answer is yes -- if we are smart and if we are committed. I welcome the leadership and commitment of world leaders to provide stimulus packages. My answer would be that we need to be very smart and invest certain portions of these stimulus packages to green growth. By doing that, we can catch two birds with one stone. We can create more jobs. This is the best way to overcome the economic crisis, to achieve economic recovery from these challenges. There are many such cases -- for example, China. They have earmarked 30% of the stimulus packages to green growth. Thus, the theme of our era should be green growth, green technologies, green energy. This is the best way to overcome this. Now you have capacity, resources and technologies. Russia can lead this green growth campaign. I count on the leadership of President Medvedev in the forthcoming London G-20 summit meeting.

Q: (inaudible) I would like to ask you a question which is related to climate change. Last May I was in Japan, and together with the Japanese colleagues from the peace movements visited a military base of Yokosuka. This is a clear example how nature is destroyed because the seabed has become deeper as military bases are launched. My question is the following. There are more than 700 military bases over the world which are American and NATO bases. What is the position in relation to defense of the nature of the United Nations and you towards the military bases which are the threat to peace in Europe?

SG: The scientists have made a good report and findings on what would be the major causes of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made four reports –most recently in November 2007. Their finding is that global warming has been mostly caused by human behaviour. This is very serious. Military bases, soldiers, might also contribute greatly to global warming. Therefore, my assessment is that, regardless of where you live, whatever profession you may have, we must change our attitude towards these climate changes, to address these climate changes. Of course, to address this fast approaching global warming crisis we must use all possible technologies. But before that, I do strongly urge that you change --all individuals and military government officials -- you have to change completely your behaviours, daily life patterns. That's the best way to address this. Of course, at this time, I am trying to galvanize, first of all, political will, and trying to mobilize financial recourses and technologies. There are many poor countries that do not have any capacity to address these issues. If you look at [the most recent] one hundred fifty or two hundred years, global warming has been caused by rapid industrialization. Through this industrialization, human beings, human society, has forced the rapid acceleration of global warming. Now our target is to reduce and decelerate this speed and to make necessary adjustment through technology. But I would again also urge all individuals to change their life pattern, just to simply turn off light bulbs when going to bed, using running water (inaudible), using renewable resources and alternative resources' energy. These are very creative ways to address climate change.

Q: (translated from Russian): Mr. Secretary-General, I liked very much your proposals for the London meeting of the G20. In this connection would you comment on the proposal of Russia and China to introduce a new international currency? We know that the source of the current global crisis is in the United States, but US President Barack Obama has refused to embrace the idea of establishing a new international currency to replace the US dollar. Could you use your authority and influence as UN Secretary-General to convince the United States leaders to heed the opinion of other countries? And, again, what is you assessment of the proposal by Russia and China to introduce a new currency?

SG: As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I may not be the final authority who can answer such fundamentally difficult questions. Now, there have been many good recommendations and suggestions, as part of addressing the financial crisis. The banking crisis has developed into financial crisis. The financial crisis has developed into an economic crisis. Now, I am concerned that if we do not address this issue properly and swiftly, it may evolve into political instability, a political crisis. The United Nations has created a commission of experts, and they have been working very hard and have [made] many good proposals. Using this common global currency -- the many recommendations put forward by governments, scholars and many sources -- all these recommendations and ideas and suggestions should be debated; they will need to become the subject of continuing debate in the international community. And most imminently, during the London summit meeting, these issues may be taken up and may be discussed -- without, I suspect, much clear-cut agreement on this. These issues should be addressed in a comprehensive, much broader context. The leaders have been, the international community has been working on how to put off this burning fire, how to gain the trust and confidence of the market, how to revive the economy, how to reform the international financial institutions in terms of governance, in terms of mechanisms –I think that will have to be addressed in a much, much broader context.

Q: (translated from Russian): Regional conflicts and ethnic conflicts are a serious destabilizing factor. Of late, we have been revisiting what happened in the Balkans. In this connection, Mr. Secretary-General, are there any ideas or proposals that would help to increase the effectiveness of UN peace operations and the capacity of the Organization to prevent regional conflicts? Is there a way to ensure that, whenever there is a peace operation, such an operation is authorized by the UN Security Council, or initiated by the United Nations itself?

SG: The United Nations has been dealing with many challenges, many conflicts -- regional conflicts, global challenges -- and there is a high level of expectation by the international community to look to the United Nations to deal with all these issues. I have a very strong sense of responsibility as the UN Secretary-General. The United Nations, in addressing these issues, needs the full participation, collective leadership and commitment in addressing many regional issues, including the Balkan issues. When there was the issue of Kosovo, we worked very closely with Russians, Serbians, Europeans and Americans –with all concerned parties. We need collective leadership, collective sense of responsibility, shared responsibility –that is the best instrument (inaudible) to address all issues. But sometimes we have been very much frustrated (inaudible) by the lack of (inaudible), lack of appreciation, lack of understanding, lack of cooperation. This comes from many sources –first of all, different faiths, different cultures, different backgrounds –historical, political. Those should be addressed in a comprehensive way.

This is something like when doctors treat human bodies, human diseases. There are emergency cases. Some cases have been there for twenty years, or thirty years, or forty years. We need to first of all treat root causes of the problems. We have the case of the Middle East, this has been six decades, seven decades old, that dispute. But there was the Gaza crisis, that was a kind of emergency case. We really wanted an immediate ceasefire to provide humanitarian assistance. I was very much impressed by such strong and immediate support by the parties concerned. But this process is very fragile, so we need to look for a more durable and permanent peace process in the Middle East.

There are many such cases, and if time allowed I could go on and on. My answer to your question is that all the 192 UN Member States should fully cooperate and pool all resources and all their wisdom in addressing these regional conflict issues. And I have been working very closely with the Russian Government –Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Vitaly Churkin here, and I have been very much encouraged by such strong support and cooperation from the Russian Government. And this is exactly why I have been emphasizing many times [inaudible] that we need Russian participation and we need Russian leadership.

Thank you very much, Spasibo.