Dr. Ki-soo Lee, President of Korea University, Distinguished presidents of universities around the world, Ladies and gentlemen, Friends,

This is, of course, one of my country's most distinguished universities, and so it is a special privilege and a pleasure to be with you here today.

President Lee Myung Bak is an alumnus, as are leaders at every stratum of Korean society. And beyond our borders, the graduates of Korea University play a growing role on the global stage.

This is as it should be. Asia's scholars should be taking their rightful place under a larger sun.

And to the presidents of Africa's great universities, I would say the same.

Your voices should be heard. Your influence should be felt, far and wide.

You are a force for social, economic and political advancement ? a force for change ? at home and within our world community at large.

That is what I would like to speak to you about today, and why I am grateful to the university for hosting our conversation.

Let me begin by telling you a bit about how I see the world and its challenges.

Then I would like to invite your support and ask your help in dealing with them ? first as individuals, as opinion-makers and influencers, and second as Asians.

Because ? as I see it, this is your moment. This is Asia's moment.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We meet at a critical time ? a moment of profound challenge and change.

I often describe this as the age of multiple crises. Food. Fuel. Flu. Financial.

Each is something not seen in years, even generations. But now they are hitting all at once.

These crises are compounded by others of greater human dimension and consequence.

I would like to speak to you about three of them:

First, the existential challenge of climate change, which threatens our way of life and the very future of our planet Earth.

Second, the deadly threat of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear proliferation.

Third, the plight of two billion of our fellow human beings, living in life-threatening poverty.

In each, Asia has a major stake.

And in solving each of them, Asia has much to contribute.

We understand that no nation can deal with these problems alone.

We also understand that, if we fail to deal with them, humankind will pay a high price ? a high price in terms of the opportunity missed, and a high price in terms of social and economic costs.

That is why I have been speaking out, lately, about the need for a renewed multilateralism.

A multilateralism that delivers real results for real people ? a compassionate multilateralism that brings real change to people's lives.

Never has the imperative of acting together been so clear.

Our future will depend, quite literally, on how well we come together in common cause.

It will depend on how well we use institutions we have built to encourage collective action ? the United Nations above all else.

And in the end it will also depend on you and the noble institutions you represent.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Climate change is the greatest collective challenge we face as a human family.

The world's top scientists tell us now is the time.

We have less than ten years to halt the global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet.

Yet there is ample reason to hope.

Two years ago, only a handful of leaders could speak to these issues. Today, world leaders are walking together toward a greener, cleaner future.

This December, in Copenhagen, we have a chance to put in place a climate change agreement that all nations can embrace.

We can take a big step along this road on September 22nd at the UN summit on climate change.

We need a major “top down” push from world leaders ? a push on the negotiators to seal the deal that we need.

We expect more than 100 heads of state and government to join us. But ? we also need a strong “bottom-up” push from academics and opinion-shapers such as you.

Universities such as yours are founts of ideas and innovation. They are furnaces of innovation and entrepreneurship.

So, send forth this word.

Tell your university students, your colleagues, your political leaders ? we must seize this once-in-a-generation chance.

A renewed multilateralism ? a compassionate multilateralism that delivers for people ? requires governments to act.

World leaders must go to Copenhagen in December and make it real. They must seal a deal in the name of humankind.

Let's be clear: in tackling climate change, as with so many other challenges, we do not lack resources.

We lack political will.

And building that will, together, must be our common purpose.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our second great challenge?. our second great opportunity ? is disarmament.

Last week marked the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Today, the world is at another turning point.

The assumption that nuclear weapons are indispensable for security is crumbling.

Disarmament is back on the global agenda ? and that is enormously welcome news.

The presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation have joined in seeking to reduce their arsenals.

The Conference on Disarmament has made a break-through. For the first time in decades, negotiators have agreed on measures to move the world away from nuclear weapons.

We have an opportunity ? and a moral duty ? to build on this momentum.

At the United Nations, we have a campaign to do that.

We call it WMD ? not weapons of mass destruction, but We Must Disarm ? WMD.

Asia must be a full partner.

Few regions have a greater stake in halting nuclear proliferation.

A renewed multilateralism ? Asia's moment ? obliges us, and you, to fully engage in this great common cause.

Think of this as bottom-up diplomacy, beginning with issues on which we have consensus.

By contrast, the six-party talks on the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula are top-down talks designed to tackle the most difficult, most sensitive political issues ? issues of truly global consequence, the nuclear issue of the DRPK.

I am deeply concerned about the situation in the North. The stakes are very high ? not just for Korea but the world.

This, too, is a test that requires a renewed multilateralism.

We must work together ? from the top-down, and from the bottom-up. We must work creatively to put these critical talks back on track.

Friends,

Let me turn, third and lastly, to the plight of too many of our fellow human beings on this planet.

I believe the measure of any person is his willingness to sacrifice for a greater good.

As Koreans of a certain generation, we know this.

To a large degree, this has been our recent national history. It is the wellspring of all our success.

Korea has emerged as a global economic powerhouse. So has the rest of Asia.

But ? we have not taken on, fully, the responsibilities that go along with our new position in the world.

Here in Asia, we see optimistic signs of recovery from last year's economic meltdown.

Not so elsewhere in the world.

We know that in any recession, those hurt first ? and worst ? are the poor.

The financial crisis has pushed millions into poverty. It cost 50 million jobs over the past year.

And the brunt of that impact has fallen on people least able to cope ? the bottom two billion of the world's poor, many living on less than $2 a day,

As privileged societies ? as moral societies ? we have a special obligation to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

We told this to the G-20 leaders in London in April. We asked for $1 trillion to make sure that the most vulnerable were not left behind.

That is a victory –but it is only the beginning.

At the coming G20 summit in Pittsburg, on September 24, we need to deliver on that promise.

We are past the midpoint of the Millennium Development Goals.

Yet we are badly lagging in our assistance commitments ? so often promised, but less frequently delivered.

We need to drive hard, starting now, to achieve these goals by the target deadline of 2015.

We need to look beyond our borders, and our own immediate interests, and see the big picture.

The big picture is that helping the poorest people of Africa, especially, is the right thing to do.

Pragmatically, it is also the correct thing to do. For in our globally interconnected world, their problems will sooner or later become our own.

A renewed multilateralism, a compassionate multilateralism, means delivering on our promises.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This brings us back to one of the main themes of our conversation, and this conference: climate change.

No issue is more central to economic growth and development. No issue is more vital to the wellbeing of billions of people, particularly in the most vulnerable nations of Africa and Asia.

As we know, there can be no solution that is not global.

But if we come together in partnership, if we come together in a spirit of renewed multilateralism, we can transform today's climate change challenge into tomorrow's opportunity ? an opportunity for green growth and sustainable prosperity.

We know the negotiations in Copenhagen will be difficult.

These talks must be accompanied by robust intellectual debate, an airing of views of the sort we are having today, so that political leaders can give their negotiators the political guidance they need.

The negotiations will have to resolve four sets of difficult political issues.

First, industrialized countries must set ambitious mid-term emissions targets. It is meaningless to talk about holding a global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius by 2050 without clear benchmarks along the way.

Second, developing nations of Asia and Africa must determine nationally appropriate mitigation actions.

Third, we must provide essential finance and technology support for adaptation ? especially for the most vulnerable African and Asian nations.

Fourth, we must agree on new institutional and governmental arrangements to manage this support.

From now until the Copenhagen conference, we at he United Nations will do everything possible to mobilize action.

For me, as Secretary-General, this will be my top priority.

But I ask your support.

Yes, it is chiefly heads of state and government who must act. They must show leadership.

But we all have a role. We are all responsible for our common destiny.

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to repeat:

Whether it is climate change, development or nuclear disarmament, we Asians bear today a special responsibility.

I repeat: this is Asia's moment.

The story of Asia's rise is ? and will be ? the shaping narrative of our century.

Its energy, its dynamism, its impressive ability to generate ideas and innovation ? all this gives Asia a new ability to shape the world, to change it ? and in doing so benefit all the world.

None of the challenges we have discussed can be overcome without Asia's full engagement.

That is the reality of our new world.

No one better understands this than you.

Yet few are better placed to do something about it.

As Asians, we must expand our focus.

As Asians, we must take on a larger worldview, as I have said, commensurate with our new position in the world.

I believe that Asia's future lies in closer cooperation, even integration, as Europe has proven to be so powerful an engine of growth and political influence.

In helping Asia to find its proper place on the global stage, the United Nations can be a partner.

And that partnership must rest on common cause.

It must find its fullest expression in addressing, front on, the great challenges facing us as humankind.

This is Asia's opportunity.

It is also its obligation.

Thank you.