In an address on Monday, December 6, host nation Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón spoke of the immediate actions needed to curb carbon footprints orldwide and ensure a safe future for our children.

The leader emphasized a foremost requirement that the highly potent methane emissions from animal agriculture and fertilizers be reduced. Saying also that his country had made a mistake 30 years earlier by engaging in destructive deforestation, the president affirmed that such activities must stop now and that a special reforestation committee has been formed toward the goal of restoring the nation’s vital trees.

He also announced plans to increase fuel taxes toward a goal of eliminating fossil fuels, while reminding of the need for fellow citizens to implement eco-friendly practices in their daily lives such as the elimination of 100-watt incandescent light bulbs.

Meanwhile, President Calderón also acknowledged the historical suffering of women, saying that many cruelties of the world exist because not enough women have been involved in leadership roles. He thus expressed his support for more involvement of women in political positions.

VOICE: Also during the conference on Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed global environment ministers and other high-level officials, urging them to continue their fullest courageous cooperation.

Ban Ki-moon – Secretary-General, United Nations (M): We need to have this political heat as long as we can say that we’ll have a globally binding, comprehensive agreement, as long as we’ll be able to say that we have done enough for our future generations, we have done enough to save this planet from this accelerating climate change phenomenon.


VOICE: To achieve these ambitious goals, both United Nations Environment Program’s Executive Director Achim Steiner and United Nations Development Program Administrator Helen Clark emphasized the need for fundamental changes that restore the Earth.

Achim Steiner – Executive Director, United Nations Environment Program (M):  When we talk about the green economy, we are not talking about some abstract notion of the future.

We are talking about something we are destroying right now, which is the natural capital of our economies. So the argument that access to energy and access to clean energy is somehow an impediment to development is about to be disproven.

Helen Clark – Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (F): We know that tackling deforestation can give us some of the quickest and simplest wins on mitigation, getting down greenhouse gas emissions.

But to achieve that, we have to turn notions of development on the head, because development used to be about clearing forests.

Our respectful salute, Your Excellencies President Calderón, Secretary-General Ban, Executive Director Steiner and Administrator Clark,for your dedication to the protection of our planet.

May your conscientious example inspire many more leaders and citizens around the world to adopt green solutions such as the Earth-balancing plant-based lifestyle.

In a November 2009 videoconference in Mexico, Supreme Master Ching Hai offered her support for such effective actions to alleviate climate change.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/28/AR2010112803284.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/29/1948925/mexicos-leader-warns-of-looming.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-talks-eye-deforestation-pact-2153127.html
http://www.forestsclimatechange.org/Progress-on-REDD+.html