THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Transcript of the Secretary-General’s Press Stakeout

New York, 14 December 2015

 

Good morning everyone, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to see you. What a great two weeks in Paris. Now I understand why people say “We will always have Paris.”

Yesterday, I returned from Paris, where Governments reached a landmark new climate change further agreement which can benefit all of humanity for generations to come.

The countries of the world have made a historic choice.

They have unanimously decided to work as one to rise to the defining challenge of our times.

The Paris Agreement is a victory for people, for the common good, and for multilateralism.

It is a health insurance policy for the planet.

It is the most significant action in years to uphold our Charter mandate to "save succeeding generations".

For the first time, every country in the world has pledged to curb emissions, strengthen resilience and to act internationally and domestically to address climate change.

The Paris Agreement is the result of years of hard work.

It embodies a successful new approach to global cooperation on climate change.

Countries have acknowledged that the national interest is best served by acting for the common good.

The Paris Agreement sends a clear signal that the transformation of the global economy to low-emission, climate-resilient growth is inevitable, beneficial and already under way.

It marks a decisive turning point in the global quest for a safer, more sustainable and prosperous future.

The Agreement will help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

It will save lives, improve human well-being and promote more peaceful, stable societies.

Reaching this agreement has been one of my top priorities since the day I became Secretary-General in 2007.

For nine years, I have spoken repeatedly with nearly every world leader about how the growing human imprint on the planet threatens our lives, our economies, our security and our survival. I have visited virtually all the places, the frontlines of climate change, where I could see for myself the impact of climate change. I sent alarm bells consistently and repeatedly to world leaders.

I have mobilized also business and engaged civil society.

I have never lost faith that the international community could rise to the climate challenge.

Now I count on Governments, and all sectors of our society, to turn these commitments into urgent and decisive action.

I thank you very much.

Question: Thank you, Secretary-General.  You’ve got 195 countries and the EU to agree to this.  Does this represent a certain goodwill to the UN and will it extend to other things?  People have asked if this is a legacy issue.  And also, have you heard from industry on how they're going to convert to all of these clean-energy methods?  Thank you.

Secretary-General:  I was extremely encouraged and happy to see that all these 196 parties whether they even have their own domestic local challenges, they were one; they were united as one, believing that the global action, global action and global solutions, will benefit local solutions.  This is what they have delivered. 

This is a great success and triumph of multilateralism.  I know that.  I am very conscious of criticism and concerns from the international community about the effectiveness and efficiencies of multilateralism.  But this time, they have shown their strong commitment for the common good of people and the planet.

Now, actions should begin from today.  It has already begun.  And the business communities, they have already expressed their strong commitment, as was shown during last year's climate summit meeting.  Several hundred business leaders came to New York.  In Paris, despite all the security concerns, all big and small business leaders came, and they reaffirmed that, and they confirmed that, low-carbon economy is the solution in addressing all the difficult economic growth issues. 

And civil society, they have also shown their strong commitment.  And I'm deeply grateful to all these business leaders and civil society, who have shown such a strong commitment and willingness to work with the United Nations and their own respective governments.

Question: Secretary-General, there are critics that say this agreement, it's not strong enough; it's weak.  How do you address those critics?  Thank you. 

Secretary-General:  This is ambitious -- strong.  In terms of ambition, it has agreed, people have agreed to contain the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees, and we will continue to strive to beat this -- even 1.5 degrees Celsius.  This is a very ambitious target at this time.  And it has also very strong accountability and transparency.  They have agreed to have a five-year cycle review.  This will help.  The parties to this Convention and Paris agreement will be monitored regularly. 

Even before this agreement will become effective by 2020, they have already agreed to have such a review session in 2018.  Then from thereon, five years.  The first one official review session will come on [2023].  Therefore, it is quite strong and ambitious.

Question:  Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary-General.  You said in your speech, when the agreement was adopted, basically, that now the hard work begins.  What do you expect governments, industry, civil society to start doing from today, tomorrow, next week, what specific things?

Secretary-General:  Over a period of several years, the world leaders, particularly government leaders, and business leaders, they have been listening from the people and from our nature that we must take action.  The very fact that 150 Heads of State and Government gathered on 30 November for the opening meeting of this climate summit meeting means that the whole world is united.

As the Secretary-General, during the last nine years, this may be limited experience, but I have never seen that in one place, in one day, at one time, 150 leaders gathered like this way.  Of course, the United Nations brings that many a number of leaders, but not in one day.  They come over a period of seven to ten days.  In that regard, the mood and excitement and solidarity, global solidarity, shown and demonstrated at that time was enormous.

I thought that with that kind of a political strength and energy, political energy shown there, I thought that we would have a good result after two weeks of very hard negotiation. 

And, anyway, the business leaders have heard and they now realise that the low-carbon economy is the answer and solution, and those countries who have been expressing their concerns, particularly fossil-fuel based economies, they're now moving toward a very quick transition.  This is what we're seeing – a very encouraging one.  As a first step in implementing this agreement, I’ll convene, as requested by the agreement and by the Convention on 22 April, next year, a signing ceremony, a high-level signing ceremony.  I'll invite as soon as possible to world leaders to come to the United Nations to sign this one, because this will be the first day of a universal climate change agreement.

Then, in May, early May, we are now planning to have a big gathering of government, business and civil society action summit.  That will be on 5-6 May.  We are now trying to organize how this can be done.

Question:  [inaudible] Does he have any response?

Secretary-General:  I'm going to brief the General Assembly tomorrow at 11:00 [on climate change], so you'll be able to listen and you'll be able to know what the United Nations is going to do.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

HIGHLIGHTS OF OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE U.N. SYSTEM

MONDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2015

 

U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF CONCLUDES VISIT TO SYRIA, CALLS ATTACK ON SCHOOL “UNACCEPTABLE”

• Stephen O’Brien, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, has concluded a three-day visit to Syria and said that while he was pleased that the United Nations was able to access Al Waer, people in many other similar places across Syria continue to be deprived of assistance. He said that the UN needs sustained humanitarian access to all people in need, with or without local agreements.
• Mr. O’Brien said that 4.5 million people continue to live in areas that are hard to reach for the humanitarian community. Almost 400,000 of those are besieged.
• The Emergency Relief Coordinator said that he was deeply saddened by the aerial attacks that reportedly hit a school in Douma, Eastern Ghouta on 13 December. He said that such indiscriminate attacks are unacceptable and we must do our utmost to protect innocent citizens, including women and children, against such atrocities. He called on all parties to respect international humanitarian and human rights laws.

NEW FORCE COMMANDER NAMED FOR U.N.-A.U. MISSION IN DARFUR

• The Secretary-General and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma announced today the appointment of Lieutenant General Frank Mushyo Kamanzi of Rwanda as Force Commander of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
• Lieutenant General Kamanzi will succeed Lieutenant General Paul Ignace Mella of Tanzania, who will complete his assignment on 31 December 2015. The Secretary-General is grateful to Lieutenant General Mella for his dedication and invaluable service during his tenure in UNAMID.
• Lieutenant General Kamanzi brings to the position more than 27 years of national and international military, as well as command and staff experience. Before his appointment, he served as Army Chief of Staff in the Rwandan Defence Forces, a position he took up in 2012.

ONE DAY AFTER REFERENDUM, U.N. PEACEKEEPING CHIEF BRIEFS SECURITY COUNCIL ON SITUATION IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

• The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, briefed the Security Council today on the situation in the Central African Republic, one day after the holding of the country’s Constitutional referendum.
• He said that yesterday’s referendum was held successfully in the majority of the country. He however noted localized incidents as well as violence and intimidation of voters and electoral staff which prevented the holding of the referendum in some towns. He also said that two peacekeepers were injured in incidents in Bangui and Bria.
• Mr. Ladsous said the actions of a few should not disrupt the hopes and aspirations of many for a successful electoral process.
• He added that with only two weeks until the first round of elections, time was of the essence to further contain such attempts by the spoilers.
• He underlined the unprecedented registration of nearly two million voters, representing 95 per cent of the estimated electorate, which demonstrates the strong desire for change by the population.
• Mr. Ladsous said that it was essential to ensure that Central Africans -- whether inside or outside the country -- can cast a vote to elect their future government free of intimidation. He stressed that the UN Mission in the country (MINUSCA) and the wider United Nations system will continue to lend their full technical, logistical and security support to enable the Transitional Authorities to achieve these objectives.

AFGHANISTAN: U.N. MISSION CONDEMNS SPATE OF ATTACKS AGAINST CIVILIANS

• Over the weekend, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the Taliban’s attack at the Spanish Embassy compound in Kabul as an attack against the entire international community.
• UNAMA called upon all parties to immediately cease targeting civilians, adding that such attacks are explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law.
• According to the mission, the attack in Kabul was the second major incident within a week for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.
• The UN mission and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also released a special report on Human Rights and Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Kunduz Province.
• The report, which documents attacks against civilians and human rights concerns during the Taliban’s temporary occupation of Kunduz city, says that there was an estimated 848 civilian casualties in the province between 28 September and 13 October.
• The figures include 67 casualties resulting from an airstrike carried out by international military forces on a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital on 3 October.

NEW HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT URGES GOVERNMENTS TO ENSURE NO ONE IS LEFT BEHIND IN FAST-CHANGING WORLD OF WORK

• The UN Development Programme (UNDP) today launched its latest Human Development Report (HDR) saying that fast technological progress, deepening globalization, aging societies and environmental challenges are rapidly transforming what work means today and how it is performed.
• The 2015 report, which focuses on Work for Human Development, says that the new world of work presents great opportunities for some, but also profound challenges for others, and urges governments to act now to ensure no one is left behind in the fast-changing world of work.
• At the launch in Addis Ababa today, UNDP’s Administrator Helen Clark said that decent work contributes to both the richness of economies and human lives, urging all countries to respond to the challenges in the new world of work and seize opportunities to improve lives and livelihoods.
• The report highlights that over the past 25 years, countries currently home to 2 billion people are no longer at low human development levels; now a focus on work is needed to galvanize progress.
• Aligned with 2030 agenda and Paris agreement, the report calls for equitable and decent work for all. In doing so, it encourages governments to look beyond jobs to consider the many kinds of work, such as unpaid care, voluntary, creative work and much more that also affects human development. Only by taking a broad view of work can its benefits be fully harnessed for sustainable development, it adds.

NEW U.N.-BACKED INITIATIVE AIMS TO EDUCATE MORE THAN 700,000 REFUGEE CHILDREN WORLDWIDE

• A new programme backed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called Educate a Child seeks to provide access to education for 710,000 refugee children in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
• The three-year partnership between UNHCR and the Education Above All Foundation will help children uprooted by the crisis in Syria, as well as in Chad, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and Yemen.
• High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said that education helps to protect refugee children, and that investing in a child's education is an investment in their future and in the generations to come.
• He noted that this important partnership will help UNHCR overcome some of the most pressing barriers to education for hundreds of thousands of refugee children, which will give them both a safer childhood and a better future.