FOURTH EDITION OF GENEVA LECTURE SERIES HELD ON “NATURE’S WAKE-UP CALL: WHY WE MUST HEED THE WARNING”

Almost 1,000 people attended the fourth edition of the Geneva Lecture Series on the topic “Nature’s wake-up call: Why we must heed the warning”, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on Wednesday 26 May 2010.

In his opening remarks, Sergei A. Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, emphasized that many of the challenges before the international community, from poverty to armed conflict, were linked to the effects of the fast-degrading state of our planet. Highlighting that we lived in one planet that inextricably linked us to one common future, the Director-General underscored the importance of the input of all parts of society. “Protecting our planet is not only the responsibility of governments and organizations but of every one of us as individuals”, he stated.

Jane Goodall, United Nations Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, argued that the outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen had participated to a collective realization, particularly among young people, of the urgency of saving the planet. Stressing that poverty was a huge destroyer of the environment, she called on younger generations to be better stewards than those of the past. Dr. Goodall also underlined the need for engaging local communities in finding solutions to problems such as deforestation and climate change. Expressing hope for the future of the planet, she explained that young people, the human intellect and the resilience of nature were the basis of her optimism.

Following the lecture, an open discussion with the audience of representatives of the diplomatic community, organizations of the United Nations system, non-governmental organizations, research and academic community, private sector, as well as students and many members of the public, was moderated by Xavier Colin, producer and presenter of the Geopolitis programme on Television Suisse Romande.

UNITAR Executive Director Carlos Lopes highlighted that just as Dr. Goodall had experienced a wake-up call at a conference on chimpanzees in 1986, which had marked the beginning of her extensive conservation work, the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen had been a turning point for the international community.

Background

Organized by the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Geneva Lecture Series was inaugurated in April 2008 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. The objective of the Geneva Lecture Series is to bring awareness of global challenges to the public by engaging prominent political, civil society, business and intellectual figures in a process of reflection on what can and should be done to address pressing issues of global significance.


For use of the information media; not an official record

DG10/011E