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| Ban calls visit to Svalbard inspiring, but alarming Despite chilly moments, U.N. leader says three-day trip to see effects of global warming a success
His arrival was marred by a huge diplomatic snafu and he got stranded overnight on a boat when plans to see the effects of global warming in the Arctic went awry due to excessive ice. But all in all, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called his three-day tour of Svalbard a good trip. Ban arrived Monday, touring research stations in Ny-Ålesund, the polar ice rim at 81 degrees north and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before departing early Wednesday afternoon. The trip was part of Ban's effort to focus attention on getting nations to agree to an aggressive climate pact this year. "My visit to Norway has been extremely successful and my visit to the global seed vault this morning has given me another vision that is very inspiring," he said Wednesday morning after touring the vault. "This gift should be an inspirational symbol of peace and food security." But the other word Ban used as much as "inspiring" was "alarming." He said his views of the Arctic by helicopter and ship revealed "very shocking, very alarming" change, with 10,000-year-old glaciers melting, the second-least amount of ice cover in modern times and the "devastating" possibility of sea level rising two meters if the Arctic becomes ice-free by 2030. "I'm much more alarmed and even frightened," he said. Ban was scheduled to fly by helicopter to the polar ice rim Tuesday, but the aircraft had to turn back when poor weather caused excessive ice to build up on the blades. Instead he made the trip on the Norwegian Coast Guard's KV Svalbard, spending the night aboard instead of flying back to a hotel in Longyearbyen. Svalbard Gov. Per Sefland, accompanying Ban as a host, said the detour may have actually been beneficial, allowing Ban to experience the full impact of climate change close up by seeing the breakup leading to the ice rim from the sea instead of by air. There were questions about whether Ban would make the trip to Norway after a memo calling him "spineless and charmless" from Norwegian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Mona Juul leaked to the press. Much of the subsequent media attention before and during the trip focused on Ban's leadership, rather than climate issues. But Ban, after meeting Monday in Oslo with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and other high-ranking officials in Svalbard, offered "my thanks to my gracious Norwegian hosts." Norwegian officials offered similar praise for Ban's effort to place urgency to the issue of climate change and "bringing information to the U.N. in a way nobody else can."
Ban, a South Korea native who calls fighting climate change a top priority, will continue efforts toward an international agreement at the annual U.N. General Assembly debate Sept. 23-26 in New York City and the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. Addressing the problem is the responsibility of all nations, regardless of where the effects are most being felt now, he said. "(The effects) do not respect national borders," he said. "This is a global issue." "I'm speaking to all the world," he said. "Unless we take action now we will regret deeply for the future of our humanity." Ban concluded his visit with a public forum Wednesday morning at The University Centre in Svalbard, telling several hundred scientists and students the technology to address problems exists, and they "are the pioneers" as science assumes a major role in the global political agenda. "You are the responsible owners, responsible for the future," he said. But, he added, "I do not want to transfer, to deliver, this planet Earth to you without proper action." Among the needs cited by officials here and previously are doubling global food production within 40 years despite an expected decrease in harvests under current conditions, limiting warming to two degrees Celsius above levels 150 years ago and reducing carbon emissions by half. But concerns were raised by some at UNIS who said those goals are insufficient. There were also questions about requiring wealthier nations to help poor countries most affected by climate change, and the impact of oil drilling and other commercial traffic such as shipping in the Arctic as melting seas opens previously inaccessible areas. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit climate activist and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize nominee who was a panelist at the UNIS discussion, said the two degrees Celsius target - and even current levels - are unacceptable for a sustainable environment. She said a reversal of temperatures is needed within 50 years. "These are big plans, but they can be done if we have a concerted effort," she said. What is needed, she added, is "a set of principles clearly focused on humanity, not just industry."
Indigenous people are suffering some of the worst effects as the Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet, and too often are overlooked by industrialized nations, Watt-Cloutier said. "The response we get that 'it costs too much to stop harming you' is no longer a valid choice," she said. Ban said assistance to poorer countries is being discussed, and he believes they deserve technology and other support. He said he is also "encouraged by many businesses acting responsibly" in considering the climate effects of development. The threat of rising seas to small island nations was raised by Rolph Payet, a panelist who is the environmental advisor to the president of the Republic of Seychelles, an archipelago nation of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. He said adjustments are needed for a world thinking too often of purely financial benefits, such as $10 European airfares, that aren't the bargain they seem. "Somebody else is paying for it," he said. Ban, noting some island nations could be wiped out by rising seas, said they "will be well taken care of as priorities." "My role as secretary-general is how to protect these vulnerable countries and how we can protect these vulnerable issues like climate change," he said. "I'm asking representatives of small island developing countries to speak up for themselves on these developments," he added. Representatives are being invited to the General Assembly meeting next month "all these big nations should listen to their struggles and challenges." |
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