“Planting of Ginkgo Biloba sapling by United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon”

Secretary-General,
Ambassador Ihara,
Mayor Durnez,
Executive Director Seth,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to the Palais des Nations today for the planting of this beautiful Gingko Biloba. As the sapling of a tree that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the tree represents the resilience of life and the courage of survivors to rebuild their shattered lives. As it takes root here in the Ariana Park, the Gingko will also become a daily reminder of the possibilities of a future free from the scourge of nuclear war. Thanks to the efforts of Mayors for Peace, saplings from trees that survived the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been planted all around the world, serving as ambassadors for the abolition of nuclear weapons and for the realization of world peace.

It is fitting that Geneva will join the ranks of cities where second-generation Gingko trees grow as our Host City occupies an important place in the history of disarmament. Key treaties in that field, including the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, have been negotiated in the Palais des Nations. Inspired by these achievements, we continue our efforts to re-inject energy into the multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations. In these efforts, the international community can count on the dedication of Japan, the only state to have suffered a nuclear attack and the bearer of the voices of the survivors and the memories of the dead.

Achieving global nuclear disarmament is one of the oldest goals of the United Nations and it has remained a top priority for the Organization under Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s leadership. So it is fitting that the Secretary-General will plant this tree today in Geneva. May this sapling grow into a reminder of our obligations to the victims of those terrible events in August 1945. Let us ensure that future generations never confront the same horror.

Thank you very much.