Another very special guest with us this evening is Her Excellency Mary Robinson. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Ms. Robinson was the first woman to hold the office of President of Ireland. She was also the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors throughout the world, Mary Robinson is currently the President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. Its mission is to ensure fair and beneficial human rights for people all over the world. Tonight she shares with us some of her thoughts on climate change and its impacts. Please join me in welcoming Her Excellency Ms. Robinson.

Good afternoon. Good evening. (Good afternoon.) Supreme Master Ching Hai, Honorable Mayor of Cancún, ladies and gentleman, I am very happy to share a few thoughts with you. I had accepted to give a few remarks, and I am happy that I do it after another former president, President Figueres of Costa Rica.

He comes to the issue of climate change, I think, from a more political perspective. I come to the issue of climate change from a human rights context. In my work for the last eight years, with my colleagues in Realizing Rights, we were working on health issues, we were working on women’s leadership and conflict situations, we were working on decent work issues in African countries.

And the conversation we were hearing was increasingly about the impact of climate change on subsistence farmers, on indigenous peoples, on poor communities. There were no longer seasons that were predictable. It wasn’t possible to know for farmers when they would sow and when they would reap the harvest. The weather changes were becoming evermore threatening to poor communities who don’t have insurance.

And I learned from some of my friends that actually are here with me this evening. For example, Constance Okot from Northern Uganda speaks about the good life that she had in her poor but stable community as she was growing up, because they had food security and they had seasons and they were able to feed their communities. The children went to school and life was a normal village life.

But more recently that has changed, and changed in a very bad way for the community. Instead of having regular seasons they now have flooding and then eight months of drought and then flooding again, and school has been undermined and the local community. And it is Constance and a group of women who are trying to hold their community together. At first she told us yesterday, at a meeting of women leaders on climate justice, at first she said, “We thought it was God who was punishing us, and we wondered why God was punishing us, a poor people in Northern Uganda.”

And then she learned, in fact through Oxfam, I’m Honorary President of Oxfam International, and Oxfam brought her to a meeting to talk as a climate witness about what was happening in her community. And when she described this, she found that in fact it wasn’t God who was punishing her people, it was in fact rich people, people who had profligate lifestyles, that were punishing her people. And that is the essence of the idea of climate justice, that there are poor communities all over the world who are in fragile areas and are increasingly finding that their lifestyles are being undermined, food security is much more difficult.

And it is because of the way the more developed parts of the world have used the resources of the Earth. So it is important, as you know well in this room, that we change our behavior, that we learn to reuse, reduce, recycle, and that we learn how to be better stewards of this earth. So I admire the way in which you are also putting a lot of emphasis on your own lifestyles, what you eat, what you grow, how you behave.

I think we need to have many diverse ways and learn from each other and encourage each other. So I’m delighted that I was able to come here this evening, but I, too, have to go for urgent reasons, to take part in discussions that are ongoing. It’s that kind of conference I’m afraid, as the Mayor knows. We are here in Cancún to try to change a very, very important issue, I think the most important human rights issue of this century, to ensure that we get a very good agreement from Cancún.

And I’d like to conclude by paying a tribute to Mexico, to the government of Mexico, which has prepared so well this climate conference, which has an open process for this climate conference. And I’m also very happy that there is the opportunity to bring the voices that need to be heard. Yesterday, in an event which I co-hosted with a number of other organizations, Wangari Maathai of Kenya and her Greenbelt Center, The Nobel Women and Realizing Rights, the foundation which I have established on climate justice. We brought together grassroots women on climate justice.

Tomorrow with the support of the government, the support of the leadership of Mexico, we will have a meeting of women ministers on climate justice, and we will bring the perspective of poor women and their communities, indigenous women to women ministers. We could not do that without the support of the government of Mexico.

So not only is the conference being well organized, but there is a lot of thought given to the important gender dimensions of climate, which have not been enough part of the previous COPs. So here in COP16, I think we have a chance to really change attitudes, change behavior, and have an outcome which will bring forward this whole debate on climate change. So thank you very much indeed and enjoy the evening. Thank you.

Thank you so much. If I just may say on a personal note, I’m so grateful that there are voices like yours out there, who are so well spoken and so impassioned as advocates for especially indigenous peoples. So thank you very, very much, Mary Robinson.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, let’s begin the evening’s entertainment. With regard to the arts, performing arts, arts in all its forms, our special guest as you know tonight is Supreme Master Ching Hai. She’s not only a humanitarian, and a bestselling author, and spiritual teacher, she’s also a poet and very, very fine artist. Her work is so deep and touching that it frequently has inspired composers to adapt her poetry to music. So we have a treat for you tonight.

Having met you personally, I know that you’re very shy and very humble about your poetry, so I would like you to know how very, very grateful we are that your profound poems can be offered to the public at large through songs like this.

Beautiful. So our first performance tonight is a song adapted from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s tender poem entitled, “Visiting Me,” with a musical score written by the wonderfully gifted David Shire.

David has composed prolifically for theater, film, televisions, and recordings. Throughout his outstanding career, he has received international recognition, being honored with 2 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, multiple Tony and Emmy Awards as well. His extensive list of film scores include the Oscar-winning theme song for “Norma Rae,” titled “It Goes Like It Goes,” and the well known scores for “Saturday Night Fever,” and Francis Ford Coppola’s film “The Conversation” starring Gene Hackman.

But David’s list of achievements is virtually endless. I’m humbled merely to be in his presence. David has composed hundreds of television scores, which have garnered him 5 Emmy nominations.

His work includes “Sarah, Plain and Tall” starring Glenn Close, “Rear Window” with Christopher Reeves, and “The Women of Brewster Place” with Oprah Winfrey. In theatrical productions, David has multiple Tony-nominated works, including songs that have been sung by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, and Vanessa Williams.

Lynne Wintersteller is a gifted soprano singer and talented actress. She has appeared in several musicals including, Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire’s hit musical “Closer Than Ever,” which ran for an incredible 312 consecutive shows at the Cherry Lane Theater.

For her extraordinary performance, Lynne was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Lynne’s debut on Broadway was in Rodgers and Hammerstein's “A Grand Night for Singing.” She continues her successful career, appearing at prestigious theaters such as the Kennedy Center and the Goodspeed Opera House.

Tonight David Shire and Lynne Wintersteller combine their musical talents to present an original composition based on Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poem, “Visiting Me.”

The song will be sung by Lynne, accompanied on the piano by David, and this will be followed by his Academy Award winning song, “It Goes Like It Goes,” with music and lyrics by him and Norman Gimbel. So please ladies and gentleman, will you help us give them a very, very warm round of applause?

We had a wonderful surprise honor today. The Supreme Master, she made lunch for us. It’s very nice! And I know you refer to her as the Supreme Master, but to us, after our lunch and our lovely conversation and meeting you, we are going to call you “Mommy Heart.” Beautiful. And she’s a good cook, too! We are combining, as a surprise to you, a poem that you wrote, David Shire, writing a beautiful song, music, that goes with it, for you to enjoy.

I'm embarrassed, but I'm grateful.

I set out, Spreading my wings to the heavens. Spreading my wings to the heavens I proceed to call on you, The one I cherish…

The Earth is vibrant, Exulting in our reunion An uncommon day of happiness, An uncommon day of happiness, Together as on our first meeting. Together as on our first meeting. Let us overlook The nights of our distress, Because from now We are together A long time…a long time!

Vast, open arms A profound, tender kiss Together this night, Let’s forget yesterdays And the rest.

We depart at sunrise, Return at twilight, Sing on full moon nights, Chorus on breezy days. Life is an aromatic flower garden Life is an aromatic flower garden Oh, Mein! Vast, open arms A profound, tender kiss Together this night, Let’s forget yesterdays And the rest.

We depart at sunrise, Return at twilight, Sing on full moon nights, Chorus on breezy days. Life is an aromatic flower garden Life is an aromatic flower garden

Oh, Mein! What a voice!

Mommy Heart.

Ain't no miracle being born People doing it everyday Ain't no miracle growing up People just grow that way

So it goes like it goes Like a river flows And time it rolls right on And maybe what's good gets a little bit better And maybe what's bad gets gone Bless the child of a working man She knows too soon who she is And bless the hands of a working man He knows his soul is his

So it goes like it goes Like the river flows And time it rolls right on And maybe what's good gets a little bit better And maybe what's bad gets gone

So it goes like it goes Like the river flows And time it rolls right on And maybe what's good gets a little bit better And maybe what's bad gets gone Gets gone

Thank you. David Shire, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you, David. Thank you, Lynne and David, for you wonderful talents and this absolutely beautiful performance, thank you so much. It was just gorgeous.

So moving. Thank you both, your talent is just unlimited.

They are the countrymen of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Okay, so please welcome the Korean group.

Thank you. Beautiful.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. That was absolutely gorgeous.

These are my people.

(They are your people.) From Korea. I’m proud. (And they represent you very well.)

I’m proud of you.

(We’re all very proud of you. That was really beautiful and colorful, and so vibrant.)

They are Association members. Spontaneous and like impromptu almost. Because we came here not to dance actually, just they like to offer something to Mexico.

Thank you.

You saw them handing out flyers somewhere on the street yesterday, yes, in front of the (Cancún) Messe.

These, some of them, yes.

In homes and in communities, we can encourage all kinds of changes, and reducing, recycling, reusing, and being aware that we have to hand this planet on in good standing to our children’s children and at the moment we’re not on course to do that. I think it’s important that we all recognize that we need to reduce our consumption of meat and other ways in which we’re using up the resources of the planet.

It was an excellent event and I really enjoyed it. And I hope that this type of event can continue and you get a little bit more of spiritual feeling into your life as opposed to a totally materialistic world. I’m quite impressed with what’s been stated here, you know, that you have to reduce your dependence on animal diet.

And it’s very logical that if you want to reduce emissions, from methane particularly, that you don’t want to be sort of pushing too much on very large production of livestock and then clearing out of forests. I think it’s important to instill in the children particularly, that there has to be change in the lifestyle patterns. And I think it’s a fairly, very healthy way of living.

I was invited, like everyone else last Tuesday. We just did it real fast and a miracle happened, we all just showed up. “Cancún? Sure, we’ll be there!” I’ve never been involved in something so exciting.

The word that comes to mind is “international.” It’s a fantastic cause and it’s also just fantastic to be a part of all these different cultures, and all these different worlds and all these different costumes backstage. And the Japanese garb and the Chinese garb, and it’s Korean, it’s fantastic. We’re having a ball. And we have pop, we have opera, we have all sorts of styles, and The Beach Boys.

With all the need for leaders around the world… I was at a conference, the World Climate Summit, Richard Branson and Ted Turner and a bunch of other leaders were there, and I was there to attend and to learn and to network, and trying to help figure out how do we communicate that which Supreme Master was talking about. How do we get people to take that step forward on an individual level, by eating more consciously. I applaud Supreme Master for being a real leader on this. So we have the food, we have the technology, we just need to have the political will, and to sum it up, the moral courage to evolve individually and collectively.

The music beautiful, the Supreme Master beautiful. It was a beautiful experience, I like it too much. I didn’t imagine that it was so nice, and I didn’t imagine that it was so cruel to kill animals. So I think that I’ll change my habits, my eating habits.

She’s [Supreme Master Ching Hai] a very impressive lady. I am a Muslim, but I felt that she is bringing in ideas from Buddhism, from Hinduism, from Christianity, Judaism and provide a common platform with some of her ideas. She’s trying to make the world a better place for everybody and I think that’s the way human beings should progress with life.

I love her [Supreme Master Ching Hai]. I’m calling her “Mommy Heart.” We had a special treat to meet her. I guess a brunch, and she had us up to her room and she cooked for us. I mean, it was a spread of food and there’s so much more backstage that she brought, and she wants everybody to take a bag of food home. So she’s quite remarkable, she really is. “Mommy Heart” I love you. It was an honor to meet her. My consciousness is elevated, it really is.

Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep elevating yourself, because as you elevate yourself, you elevate us, and God bless you, and I love you, “Mommy Heart.” I’ll never forget you, I won’t forget you. I hope I see you again. I know I’ll see you again. There are no coincidences in life.

Be Veg, Go Green, 2 Save the Planet! Please!

It was a joy to have your company today for Supreme Master Television’s rebroadcast of “The Greenest Heroes Gala.” Join us again Monday, March 7 for part 3 of this spectacular celebration. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom. May we treasure and honor all co-inhabitants with mutual love and respect.