Kofi Annan Quotes

Climate change and ozone depletion are two global issues that are different but have many connections. In the ozone depletion case, we managed to work with decision makers effectively so that an international agreement called the Montreal Protocol was achieved that essentially solved the ozone depletion problem.

Ours is a world which feels so unsettled and dangerous in large ways, whether it's terrorism or global financial meltdown or climate change - huge things that affect us deeply, and yet things about which we can do, individually, very little.

The debate on climate change has been tainted by its excessive concern with individual and national interests, short-termism, and lack of solidarity in face of global threats.

If you asked me to name the three scariest threats facing the human race, I would give the same answer that most people would: nuclear war, global warming and Windows.

We were able to conclude a Paris climate agreement, which will lead the way for the rest of the world, which is groundbreaking. And together with the sustainable development goals of the agenda 2030 for the whole world, this is indeed a sea change, I think, that we see here, and, step-by-step, it will be implemented.

This conclusion of trade agreements that go beyond the scope of mere tariff agreements, customs agreements, are most important and I'm very pleased we were able to bring this to fruition between Canada and the E.U. We've made great progress, particularly if we look at one of the great global issues, namely climate protection, without the engagement of the current administration under the leadership of Barack Obama, this Paris agreement would never have come about.

Our countries are weaker: they cannot protect us from imported goods, they can't protect us from climate change, they cannot protect us from epidemics. These things cross borders. But the kind of cooperation that would protect us from those things was completely lacking and because of this there's been a backlash. People feel vulnerable.

Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol.

Global warming is another big area that we need to get on top of. And diseases in Africa, which we're also working on and seeing if we can make a difference on. And there are lots of issues that governments seem to be blind about.

In our interdependent world, our neighbors are not only on our street, but can be ten thousand miles away on an island in rising seas.

I think of the kids that live on top of garbage dumps, I think of the ways we could reach out to other countries, I think of certainly climate change. There's so much. The nighttime is that time, is it not?

Senator Obama will be taking office at a critical juncture. There are many pressing challenges facing the international community, including the global financial crisis and global warming. We look forward to working closely with President-elect Obama and his team to address these challenges.

I think we live in an era of problems that, if you step back and look at them globally, can't be solved. One response to that is, "Oh well, it's all hopeless. The natural world is getting wrecked, birds are disappearing, the planet is warming and so anything we might do on a smaller scale is meaningless."

The rise of the Earth's temperature, causing sea level increases that could add up to one foot over the next 30 years, threatens the very existence of New Orleans.

Let's stop feeling so guilty about global warming

[Barack Obama] believes climate change is a bigger threat to our country than these barbaric Islamic terrorists that have as their organizing principle the destruction of Western civilization.

Melting of the huge Antarctic glaciers, proceeding more rapidly than anticipated, threatens a rise in sea level that will drive tens of millions from the low-lying plains of Bangladesh alone, with disastrous consequences elsewhere.

The first few feet of sea-level rise alone will displace more than 100 million people worldwide and turn all our major Gulf and Atlantic coast cities into preKatrina New Orleans - below sea level and facing super-hurricanes. - Joseph Romm210. The generations living today get to retrofit, reboot, and reenergize a nation. We get to rescue and reinvent the U.S. economy.

I like any and all of my associations with music: writing, playing, and listening. We write and play from our perspective, and the audience listens from its perspective. If and when we agree, I am lucky.

Another study described by NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which they will be putting out in print soon, they have only described it verbally, calling it an "Oh my God" study, suggesting that we could see nine feet of sea level rise as soon as 2050.

Both of our nations [America and Germany] were proud to join the Paris Climate Agreement which the world should work to implement quickly. Continued global leadership on climate in addition to increasing private investment and clean energy is gonna be critical to meeting this growing threat.

As we progress into the twenty-first century, anyone who considers themselves a realist will have to make the environment a top priority.

We [US] are the biggest per person, by a substantial amount, greenhouse emitters, and we give the most foreign aid, not per person but in absolute. This is another issue where hopefully we will take a long-term approach which, even though we sometimes have a hard time doing that, it's easier for us, as a rich country with this kind of scientific depth, than it is for the poor countries who will suffer the problems.

Any difficulties which the world faces today will be as nothing compared to the full effects which global warming will have on the world-wide economy.

Civilization’s shortening attention span is mismatched with the pace of environmental problems.