This morning Catherine Guathier, 18, a member of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition addressed the United Nations at a high-level forum on climate change. The forum, titled “The Future in Our Hands: Addressing the Leadership Challenge of Climate Change,” brought ministers from over 150 countries, and 80 heads of state, making the meeting the highest level UN meeting on climate to date.
Catherine wrote the speech with Carl Tomacruz, a Phillipino student who works with Greenpeace Solar Generation. They challenged the Presidents and Prime Ministers in attendance to show true leadership.
“Today, when you take the floor, commit to addressing this urgent threat and put yourselves on the right road to a strong mandate in Bali.”
Joining Catherine on the stage were the likes of Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the chair of the IPCC, Mayor of Delhi, and the one and only, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Secretary General called the meeting to shore up support for an upcoming pivotal round of international climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia.
In regards to meetings like APEC and the upcoming Major Emitters Meeting, Catherine nailed it on the head: “There are spin doctors in certain capitals that will try to convince you otherwise with their ‘diplomatic breakthroughs,’ ‘bridges’ and ‘complementary processes.’ But there is only one road to a safe climate and it leads to Bali.”
See a video of the speech, using Real Player here, or read the transcript here.
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