UN General Assembly
2019

I think all of us in this Hall have seen the recent photo of dogs pulling a sled over the thawed waters of Greenland. It was not an edited photo; the temperature of the waters in that area has risen by five degrees in just one year. That is a real alarm, as is watching the Amazon burn before the impotent gaze of the indigenous populations. Why have we not acted forcefully enough? We already have examples of good practices that I would like to champion: for example, decades-long joint efforts under the Montreal Protocol are bearing fruit — they have been effective — and we are regenerating our ozone layer. We also have good ideas. Let us get the Green New Deal going. The climate emergency is the great threat of our age, but we have alternatives. What is important is that we take action.