Climate Sense

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Statement by Moritz Leuenberger, Minister of the Environment, Transport,

Energy and Communications and former President of the Swiss Confederation

The face of the world is changing. From our planet’s alpine peaks to its ocean depths, from its verdant

plains to its arid steppes, climate change affects our daily life, our environment and our economies.

No nation is spared from making far-reaching decisions. Must an area be evacuated due to flood risk?

Are the necessary precautions in place to prevent famine caused by drought, or epidemic outbreaks from

persistent humidity? What investments are required in ski resorts to counter the rising snow line? Knowing the

answers to these questions is vital: our ability to adapt depends entirely upon our understanding of how the

world will change. This is what climate information is all about.

We should not forget that this need to adapt has arisen from our emissions of greenhouse gases, which

science tells us are the cause of global warming. Fortunately, it is possible to mitigate climate change. But,

to reach this goal, we must set ambitious reduction targets for the next decade, at Copenhagen in December

2009.

Nevertheless, adjusting to the unavoidable effects of climate change remains a necessity, and helping

the most vulnerable to do so is an obligation. Climate information lies at the heart of this. But developing

countries need financial support as well to implement these adaptation measures. That is why Switzerland has

proposed a global CO

levy based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle. Its implementation would allow financial

resources to flow to those communities least responsible for climate change, but most vulnerable to its impact,

and help prevent deep rifts opening up in our societies.

I would like to thank the World Meteorological Organization and its UN and other partners for convening

the World Climate Conference-3. They call on us all to work together across different regions and sectors to

address the challenges of climate change, so as to enhance mankind’s adaptive capacity, and achieve major

benefits to society as a whole. I am particularly proud to welcome the World Climate Conference to Geneva,

and this for the third time.

Moritz Leuenberger

Minister of the Environment, Transport, Energy and

Communications and former President of the Swiss Confederation