? Remarks by President General Assembly
H.E Dennis Francis
on
¡°Strengthening climate action:
The role of the United Nations General Assembly in addressing sea-level rise and other climate-induced disasters¡±
at
Florida State University,
Turnbull Conference Center, Tallahassee, Florida
August 29, 2024
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? (As Delivered)
?
Dr James Clark, Provost Florida State University,
Dr. Jai Vartikar, First Lady, Florida State University,
Mr. Tim Chapin, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy,
Students and Faculty of Florida State University,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you here today ¨C on this renowned Florida State University (FSU) campus in Tallahassee.
I am sincerely thankful to the organizers of The Ruth K. and Shepard Broad International Lecture Series and the Engage Your World series for the opportunity to do just that – engage with you today.
My sincere appreciation goes to Dr. Richard McCullough, President Florida State University.
I express my deepest gratitude to Assistant Provost McDowell, Dr. John Mayo ¨C Director of the Engage Your World series ¨C and FSU for the kind invitation to be here.
For your information, I am pleased to count among my delegation your own distinguished alumna ¨C Dr. Mariam Shaikh ¨C a national of Pakistan, who has been a valued member of my team.
Without any doubt, tertiary institutions like FSU play a crucial role as society¡¯s great developers and liberators of human potential ¨C advancing public understanding, shaping societies, and building our collective future.
That future ¨C and what we must do, together, to secure it ¨C is what I intend to speak to you today about.
A transformative future brimming with boundless potential ¨C and one that is propelled by remarkable and rapidly evolving innovations and revolutions that are constantly upgrading and unleashing our human potential and redefining what is possible.
Alongside the boundless potential, the reality is that it is also a future fraught with profound risks and uncertainties.
Risks, that we must fully grasp and address ¨C immediately ¨C in order to ensure humanity¡¯s continued well-being.
While there are numerous other pressing global issues ¨C including internal conflicts, ongoing aggression against sovereign countries like Ukraine, and escalating violence worldwide in places like Haiti and Sudan ¨C as you have asked me, today’s lecture focuses on one of the most formidable risks we face.
Climate change ¨C a deepening major challenge that is existential.
It brings a slew of interrelated effects ¨C many spanning borders and all affecting successive generations.
Our actions today will determine not only the average global temperatures.
What we do or do not do will heavily influence weather patterns, biodiversity, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, agricultural output and food security.
Importantly ¨C if we do not seriously reexamine the way we live i.e. our habits and lifestyles ¨C that will even dictate whether entire ways of life will continue to sustainably thrive and thus determine our own survival.
Living up to the promise of the Paris Agreement by honoring those commitments and pledges is our best hope for staving off the worst of the impacts ¨C and, more importantly, keeping global temperature rise below the 1.5-degree pre-industrial limit.
It is a goal close to my heart ¨C quite literally ¨C I have taken to wearing a lapel pin advocating atmospheric temperature increase of ¡°1.5 degrees¡±, well before assuming the Presidency.
And it is a goal we must all set ourselves to urgently achieve.
Dear Friends,
Sea-level rise, global warming, and proliferating disasters ¨C including hurricanes and floods, caused by climate change ¨C can no longer be spoken of as abstract looming dangers.
They are present realities unfolding before our very eyes.
In 2024 alone ¨C for the first time ever ¨C global warming breached the 1.5-degree limit for an entire year.
July 21 was registered as the hottest day on Earth since record keeping began in 1940[1]
Then, the following day ¨C July 22 ¨C broke that record again.
Right here in the United States, 2023 broke the record for the greatest number of deaths resulting from extreme heat ¨C that is, 2,300 people tragically lost their lives!
And 2024 could be even worse. [2]
Extreme weather events caused by warming air and ocean temperatures, once rare, could become annual occurrences ¨C affecting close to 1 billion people living in low-lying coastal areas.
As Floridians, you too know that climate change is not a ¡°tomorrow problem¡±.
Just recall how recently Hurricane Debby ¨C which made landfall not far from here ¨C left a path of massive destruction in its wake, from Florida to the Carolinas.
It was another stark reminder of how torrential rains can trigger flash flooding and storm surges.
Nearly 40 percent of Americans live along the coasts ¨C where sinking land only adds to the threat of sea-level rise.[3]
For the populations of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other low-lying coastal zones ¨C including my own home country in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago ¨C no issue is more pressing or consequential than sea-level rise.
For small island states ¨C like the Maldives, which consists of 99 percent water and has a maximum elevation of merely 2.4 meters above sea level¨C even a modest rise in sea levels could have catastrophic consequences, potentially making continued habitation untenable.
In coastal States from Brazil to India, sea-level rise could abruptly force millions of people to relocate ¨C creating new population flows and intensifying competition for already scarce resources.
The cascading effects extend beyond these immediate impacts ¨C influencing regional stability, economic vitality, and international relations.
Addressing them, therefore, requires a multipronged approach ¨C combining urgent climate action to mitigate sea-level rise with strategic planning to manage its unavoidable consequences.
Building resilient infrastructure, implementing effective disaster response strategies including early warning systems, and promoting sustainable economic practices are vital steps toward safeguarding vulnerable communities ¨C and ensuring a viable future for affected communities and regions.
No less important is implementing effective adaptation measures ¨C inclusive of comprehensive policies that address forced migration and displacement due to sea-level rise and associated sudden-onset and slow-onset disasters.
Friends ¨C on a broader level ¨C we need to maintain an unrelenting and uncompromising devotion to the truth.
To succeed, we need a full-on global coordinated effort ¨C in particular, to push back against the rampant misinformation and disinformation campaigns maliciously spread by those who seek to cast doubt on obvious science-based realities relevant to addressing climate change.
And we know very well that this pattern of denial is not new.
Just as the tobacco industry once manipulated or outright rejected scientific evidence linking smoking to cancer ¨C today we see similar tactics motivated by self-interest.
These actors downplay the urgency of climate action, deny the impact of fossil fuel consumption and excessive carbon emissions, and disregard rising sea levels ¨C even as communities are at imminent risk of relocation. Just this June it was reported that communities along Panama¡¯s Caribbean coast have begun relocating in response to the danger of rising sea levels. [4]
There are those who deliberately and knowingly dismiss the need for climate action ¨C even as people, and our planet continue to suffer the devastating consequences of natural disasters caused by or made more virulent through human activity.
These campaigns do more than just mislead the public.
They undermine effective policymaking, delay the adoption of sustainable practices, and compromise international efforts ¨C including on many occasions causing disunity among countries at the United Nations itself ¨C on efforts to address climate change, global warming, and sea-level rise.
It is imperative, therefore, that we confront these falsehoods with facts and informed discourse ¨C to ensure that policy decisions are informed by science and evidence.
Dear Friends,
As I conclude, let me emphasize that as academics, you too bear a particular moral responsibility to challenge mistruths, distortions, and outright lies ¨C and to promote the irrefutable facts of science to the general public.
It is crucial to ensure that people are properly informed and aware of the real dangers to empower them to make natural decisions about their individual lives and that of their communities.
Moreover, as young people, the next generation of global leaders, your support is vital in driving decisive action on climate change.
We have witnessed some encouraging steps ¨C like the capitalization of the Loss and Damage Fund at COP28 held last November in the United Arab Emirates.
I am hopeful that leaders will build substantially and meaningfully on this progress at COP29 in November, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
In all our efforts, it is especially crucial to heed the unique risks faced by countries in special situations ¨C those most poor and most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
In that regard, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), deserve our full attention and support.
There are several immediate ways you can make a difference.
For instance, I encourage you to voice your support leading up to the Summit of the Future in September ¨C during which world leaders will convene at ±¬ÁÏÍø Headquarters in New York to forge a new global consensus on strengthening our multilateral system to better serve both People and Planet.
I am also delighted to inform that, following the Summit, the General Assembly ¨C at my initiative ¨C will convene a high-level meeting of Heads of State and Government on September 25 to tackle the challenges posed by sea level rise.
This will mark the Assembly¡¯s inaugural formal meeting and a crucial step in addressing sea-level rise, with a view to delivering in time, practical solutions for affected states and frontline communities.
These events are critical in raising the international profile of sea-level rise and in enhancing international collaboration to mitigate and adapt to these risks.
You can also support our cause by joining my #ChooseSustainabilitycampaign and the ACT NOW campaign, initiated by the United Nations.
Both initiatives are instrumental in influencing all stakeholders ¨C including you, to make decisions that secure a sustainable future.
I know many of you are passionate and have innovative ideas ¨C and I wish you Godspeed in your endeavors and look forward to learning about your contributions.
With this, I eagerly anticipate learning of your insights on what action we can take to stabilize our climate and drive further progress across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ¨C our blueprint for achieving peace, progress, prosperity and sustainability for all, everywhere.
I thank you.