Humanitarian Terry Waite urges more Commonwealth action on Climate Change
Posted by AlexT - 15/09/09 at 01:09 pmThis year’s speaker at the Commonwealth Foundation’s Commonwealth Lecture, Terry Waite, a humanitarian and former hostage, talks to the RCS about climate change, education and the Commonwealth’s relevance.
How do you think the Commonwealth adds value to the world?
The Commonwealth is a remarkable association because a collection of 53 nations gather together around common values, not around primarily economic values. They are working for peace, working for democracy, working to improve the lives of people around the world. Therefore by keeping that vision right and by consistently working for those values to be expressed, not just in word but in deed, they are making an enormous contribution to the world.
In your lecture you talked about the big challenges facing the world: climate change, democracy…Are there ways in which the Commonwealth can contribute to addressing those challenges?
Very much so. Commonwealth leaders ought really to take those values to heart. Let?s take one – climate change. Climate change is actually threatening the existence of certain countries in the world, Bangladesh, the Maldives and other places and their very existence is at stake and so therefore I think it is absolutely vital that Commonwealth leaders take responsibility. Stop deforestation for example; act in a responsible way one to another because what they do has an effect on their neighbour; what their neighbour does has an effect on us, on everybody. It isn’t just a question of rich and poor nations, it’s a question of us all together being determined to deal with this problem that faces us.
You talked about how the Commonwealth is relevant to someone like you. How does the Commonwealth make itself relevant to a 12 year old in Guyana?
Only if there can be a personal contact, if they can be involved in one way, if they can be involved in programs. For example, I think we ought to have a syllabus that goes across all schools in the Commonwealth dealing with some of the big issues that are Commonwealth issues and every school in the Commonwealth should?have at least an element of that. That’s one way in which young people can be actually involved in the Commonwealth and feel the sense of pride of belonging to an organisation that has such high ideals.
Category : Climate Change & Environment, Education, The Commonwealth's Relevance
Tags: climate change, Human Rights, Relevance
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September 15th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
With the Maldives and Bangladesh in its membership the Commonwealth should have a loud and respected voice on the issue of Climate Change. Funny its never mentioned on the international scene then?
September 17th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Indeed. But why is the Commonwealth hardly ever mentioned on the international scene in any context? It is terrible at its own publicity. It repeatedly fails to get its message out in any kind of coherent or effective way. It claims to be doing all of this great work. If it is, it should shout about it a bit more!
In terms of climate change, the Commonwealth was very proud of itself after the Kampala CHOGM in 2007 when it came up with its ‘Lake Victoria Climate Change Action Plan’. No one outside Commonwealth circles has ever heard of this. Maybe they didn’t give it too much publicity because they knew it was a fundamentally weak, unimpressive document…
The upcoming CHOGM in Trinidad & Tobago takes place only ten days before Copenhagen. If all 53 Commonwealth leaders stood up and issued a strong collective statement on climate change, it could have an impact. But will they? I doubt it…
September 17th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I really couldn’t agree more.
This would be an excellent way to move the Commonwealth forward in a way in which everyone involved benefits.
September 24th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Absolutely correct, the Commonwealth needs to act on Climate Change. Not just some self-aggrandising ‘collective statement’, but a genuine treaty to which all Commonwealth Member states should sign up.
There is a lot of talk in the developed world about how much fighting climate change will harm ‘growth’ and cost the taxpayer. It is the Commonwealth’s moral responsibility to eliminate these flawed concepts from the Climate Change issue on the international stage. Money is no object in this case, and it is due to this notion that ‘growth is good’ (Ironically the principle on which the British Empire was based) that Earth’s Ecology is in such dire straits now.
The Commonwealth, I think, wishes to act as a force for good in the world. Very soon, there will no longer be a world. The Commonwealth has to draw a line in the sand this November. No more houses, no more roads, no more power plants. Stop the emissions now, and we might just curb the death toll which is shortly to descend upon Bangladesh, the Maldives, Fiji etc.
September 25th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
THE RCS IS AN ORGANISATION WHICH ACTS AS A PLATFORM FOR THE LEADERS OF THE MEMBERS STATES TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THE BETTERMENT OF THEIR STATE AND THE WORLD .CLIMATE IS OF UTMOST SIGNIFIGNANCE IN OUR ERA .THE CHOGM WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE LEADERS TO COME WITH THEIR ARGUMENTS AND PROPOSAL CONCERNING CLIMATE CHANGE .THE RCS AS A BODY MAY ACT AS A NEUTRAL PARTY AND A MEDIATOR IN THE PROMOTION OF THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE STATES.A ENVRONMENTAL CHARTER OR TREATY COULD BE PRESENTED TO THE MEMBER STATES BY THE RCS WHEREBY SPECIAL CLAUSES CONCERNING PRESERVATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT ,USE OF CHEMICALS ,NO MORE EMISSIONS AND OTHER MESURES WHICH MAY BE ENFORCED TO FIGHT IN ORDER TO ALLEVIATE THIS PHENOMENON .THE RCS MAY ALSO SENBILISE THOSE WHO WILL BE THE LEADERS THAT IS THE YOUNG OF OUR GENERATION AS WELL THE CHILDREN .CLIMATE CHANGE SHOULD NOT BE THE CONCERN OF ONLY LEADERS AND THE AUTHORITY BUT IT SHOULD OF EVERYONE CONCERN..
WE ARE THE WORLD ,WE ARE CITIZENS OF THIS GLOBAL VILLAGE ,WE NEED TO ACT !!
December 28th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Now that the Climate change Conference at Copenhagen is concluded with limited success, is it possible that the Lake Victoria Climate Change Action Plan, agreed by consensus of 53 countries that include ‘developed’ as well as “developing” nations could be a stepping stone for a global treaty.B