18thNovember 2011, Male; The UN Secretary-General, Ban-Ki moon, has used a keynote speech at the 3rd meeting of the Climate Vulnerable Forum in Bangladesh to applaud the Maldives' leadership on climate change and its vision of a low-carbon future.
The Secretary-General was speaking at the inauguration of CVF 2011 alongside Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem of the Maldives. The CVF was founded by President Nasheed in 2009 to represent the voices of the world's most vulnerable nations, to explain their plight and to place them at the forefront of efforts to move the world towards carbon neutrality. This role was recognized by the UN Secretary-General who said: "I appreciate and commend the leadership of the outgoing Chair - Maldives".
In addition to describing the worsening of the climate crisis around the world, and the inadequacy of the global response - especially in terms of providing the promised billions of dollars of new climate finance for adaptation and mitigation - the Secretary-General praised vulnerable countries for their willingness to take the moral lead. "Some of the world's most vulnerable countries, also represented here, are some of the best models for a clean energy future - Costa Rica, Ethiopia, the Maldives, Samoa, all plan to go carbon neutral" he said.
"In this time of global economic uncertainty, let (these countries') commitment to green growth be an inspiration to more developed countries -- the major emitters," he said.
"It is a win-win-win for all countries. I urge all Members of this Forum to join us in this initiative. We must work together to build a safer world and a more prosperous world," he concluded.
This theme was also taken up by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who said that "given that many [developed] countries are shying away from their obligations, we, the most vulnerable, ought to take the lead. Let us commit to internalize green development pathways...let us convert challenges to opportunities for green development. Here we expect our developed country partners to come forward with technology and finance".
ENDS