Madam Chair, colleagues, the world, including the economic, political and social situation, is constantly changing and will continue to change at an even faster pace in years to come. It is our ability to adapt to these changing circumstances that will determine how successful we are.
In the ten years since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, much has changed with regard to these situations around the world. Globalisation seems to have made the world a much smaller place; competition for resources and customers has intensified and is no longer confined to the boundaries of a particular country.
Climate change and global warming are realities that affect us directly and we are starting to experience their effects at first hand. Unusual or erratic weather conditions, flooding and extreme heat are just some of the warning signs that we must heed. If we continue our current development trends with little or no consideration for the environment and without a significant reduction in greenhouse emissions, then we will eventually suffer the consequences.
The Kyoto Protocol, which aims at curbing the air pollution that is blamed for global warming, came into effect seven years after it was agreed. It required countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Although some industrial countries are making progress in decreasing the emissions of their greenhouse gases, many are not, and the progress that has been made has been slow. Some countries fear that by implementing strict targets for pollution and gas emissions they will be sacrificing profits and slowing down economic development. It is also very unfortunate that some industrialized nations, particularly the USA, are not committed to the Kyoto Protocol.
Although the industrialized nations are primarily responsible for the carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere, developing countries also have a role to play in managing the situation. By actively trying to curb our greenhouse gas emissions as well as educating and informing the public about climate change and global warming, we can make a difference.
Madam Chair, although we can be proud of the progress and the many economic, political and social developments that have been made globally over the past ten years, it is unfortunate that we have not achieved a similar rate of progress with regard to finding lasting and globally accepted plans and solutions to fight global warming and climate change.
Economic and political developments are very important, but they should not be achieved in isolation with little or no regard for the environment. We are running out of time in our quest to address our environmental problems. We need to start taking these problems more seriously and paying more attention to them if we want to make a meaningful difference. Our efforts in addressing environmental issues have been slow since the Kyoto Protocol was signed ten years ago. We need to speed up this progress.