The earth is the mother of all of us, and we do not need to be reminded of this. It’s the shift that carries all of us, and we will all sink if someone else tears a hole in its wall.  We all share a common destiny and corporate responsibility.  

Ladies and gentlemen, 

You know how many serious dangers and disasters our planet’s present and future are facing, which threaten its bio-security and -safety and ecosystems. Unfortunately, most of these risks’ serious consequences wouldn’t be escaped if humankind ceases to find serious, responsible and comprehensive solutions and treatments.

 

Disasters,

which humanity has suffered so much, are no longer mere speculations or uncertainties, but rather have been tangible and more dangerous. These disasters have been caused by sacrificing the earth’s safety for economic development; as a result of dependence on the fossil economy, which causes, day after day, massive destruction of the environment, destabilization of the earth’s biosecurity, destruction of its ecosystems and extremely serious health damage to all living organisms, primarily human beings. 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

What we are striving and struggling for is a world characterized by integrity, sustainability and commitment. This would not be achieved if we, as individuals, companies, governments and regimes, keep dealing with bio-security and -safety as if it has nothing to do with us. In the absence of any efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, it is only a matter of time before these emissions cause serious damage to the earth’s present and future.

The conscience of mankind urgently calls upon us all to assume corporate responsibility and share different responsibilities in order to protect future generations and our shared environment.

That is why we urgently need to transform the traditional fossil fuel-based global energy system into a renewable energy based system based on alternative energy, also known as clean energy and green energy, which is constantly generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, geothermal heat and rain. Green energy is the only way out of the economic and environmental stalemate caused by fossil fuels of all kinds. 

My dear ones, we know that there are many practical difficulties in achieving this noble goal of abandoning fossil fuels and replacing them with sustainable green energy. We also know that only tremendous efforts and resources are needed ensure that this ambition is met. But we have no choice but to overcome those challenges as urgent as possible. Accelerating global warming does not even allow us to catch our breath. Accordingly, we have no choice but to pursue the alternative energy option, which we must give unprecedented and responsible attention as the only, safe option left for present and future generations to escape harmful carbon emissions associated with conventional energy. 

We also know that a comprehensive and tangible transition to green energy will reduce natural disasters caused by global warming and prevent the formation of acid rain that harms all forms of life. It will also reduce hazardous waste in all its gaseous, liquid and solid forms, as well as protect all living organisms, especially endangered ones, water and fish from pollution, and contribute to food security. Moreover, switching to green energy would increase the productivity of agricultural crops as a result of preventing them from chemical and gas contaminants. Reliance on alternative energy will play a critical role in the conservation of natural resources, ecosystems and ensuring the integrity of the earth’s biological diversity. 

 

Dear friends, 

Fortunately, the developing and least developed countries are the most likely to own green energy sources. As a renewable energy not being vulnerable to depletion in the future and being free of any bad effects on health and environment, the use of green energy in these countries would achieve sustainable development in its different economic, social and political dimensions, improving human living conditions, reducing poverty especially among women and marginalized groups, and ensuring women's participation in economic and social development. 

The investment in this area would also bring enormous benefits in terms of poverty reduction, as it creates new jobs for a large segment of the world population, which is deprived of development due to lack of access to electricity and water, especially among women and young people.  

Needless to say, the green economy in light of sustainable development and poverty eradication will enhance our ability to manage natural resources sustainably, and will increase resource efficiency and reduce waste by reducing the negative impacts on the environment.

 

Dear ladies and gentlemen, 

If we recognize the need to promote harmony with nature, and if we recognize that the nature has rights, we must commit ourselves to maintaining a fair balance between the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations by adopting comprehensive and integrated approaches to sustainable development which will guide humanity to live in harmony with nature and lead to efforts to repair the damage to the Earth's ecosystem.

 

Dear friends, 

- We need immediate and urgent global action, involving both private and government sectors, in which national, regional and international efforts must be combined in comprehensive, sustained and sustainable manner to develop specific, chronic and mandatory policies, plans and programs for the full and comprehensive transition to the green economy.

- We urgently need industries that grow and evolve based on investment in alternative energy sources, and the world’s businessmen and governments would have to work seriously and responsibly on "green energy" projects that operate away from traditional energy strategies that don’t take toxic gas emissions into account.

 

- It is urgently needed to support the efforts made by developing countries to implement green economy policies in terms of development and poverty eradication and provide these countries with the necessary technical and technological assistance that should be employed in capacity-building, as well as to provide the exchange of experience and knowledge in various areas of sustainable development.

- There is also an urgent need to promote and generalize the measures taken by many of the world’s countries to adopt green energy and choose the clean alternatives, which suit their environment, determine the amount of energy consumption, and help them build green cities free of pollutants and with special, environmentally-friendly buildings, show them how to support agricultural and industrial projects that depend on green energy, and provide them with the necessary technical requirements to ensure their clean energy needs.

- It is urgently necessary to create and promote an environmental citizenship based on the conscious individual who is among friends of the environment and has developed a passionate concern for environmental issues. This is crucial to sustainable development and could contribute significantly and effectively to facing all environmental challenges in the present and future.

- Immediate measures are needed in order to deal with all unsustainable patterns of production and consumption in pursuit of environmental sustainability, and to promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems. 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Despite the proliferation of alternative energy plants in the world, the use of clean energy has not yet replaced conventional energy anywhere in the world. Let me remind you, dear ones, that the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit and its resulting agreements and charters were not mere fantasies and pipe dreams. On the contrary, we were beginning to glimpse some of challenges and risks to the earth as a result of climate change. Today, however, many of those potential threats have become reality and have had dire consequences, ranging from earthquakes and floods, extinction of some organisms, desertification, land degradation and forest fires. The Rio Summit presented a forward-looking vision that was able to get to the bottom of challenges and dangers that threaten present and future of mankind. It was also able to clear things up, displaying mechanisms and programs to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development, which does not compromise the earth’s safety for economic and social development. 

Despite what has been achieved in this context, there is still a big gap, especially when looking at commitments and pledges that have been given in international agreements, initiatives and declarations starting from the Rio Summit, the 21st Century Program, the Millennium Declaration and until the Istanbul Program. The Rio Summit and the subsequent summits, which embraced light and unprecedented treaties and declarations in the history of humanity, continue to urge us to put the environmental, social and political dimensions of sustainable development on an equal footing with the economic dimension. 

Despite the covenants and agreements the world’s countries have ratified  since the Earth Summit, the Millennium Declaration, the Agenda for the Twenty-first Century and the dozens of other agreements that called for protecting the environment and adopting a sustainable, multi-dimensional development policy, the last twenty years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 saw little progress in the transition to the green economy and in terms of reduction of fossil fuel usage, and this calls for the need to meet all the commitments previously made in those agreements in favour of our present and future. 

Dear friends, 

In a few weeks, not even months, the Kyoto Protocol on climate protection will end. There are major and troubling questions that require highly responsible answers. Our planet’s population wonders with great concern: would the Kyoto protocol remain an effective international solution to the problem of climate change? Or has it become, or at least will soon become, mere ink on paper?

The planet’s safety deserves a lot of effort and work, but we are taking very slow steps. In return, increasing and accelerating steps have been taken towards tampering with environmental security and health.