​FerMUN 2014: 8 january 2014, Geneva, Switzerland

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief, SPM, ITU

Distinguished FerMUN 2014 delegates,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour to be with you here this afternoon for the opening of the second FerMUN conference.

I am here representing Dr Hamadoun Touré, the ITU Secretary-General, who could not unfortunately be with us this year – but who sends his wholehearted support to you all. Last year’s FerMUN conference was a huge success and we fully expect this year’s edition to be even more successful.

ITU is greatly honoured to host FerMUN 2014, and we are delighted to be able to lend you our facilities for this conference, which brings together more than 600 participants to discuss one of the most important issues ever facing humanity: Climate Change.

Climate change is such an important challenge – and in particular for young people like yourselves.

This is why Ban Ki-moon has pushed back the start of this year’s UN General Assembly in New York – to make way for a Special Summit on Climate Change.

Distinguished delegates,

Climate change will affect every single person on the planet, rich or poor, wherever they live.

We are already seeing this happen.

Because although no single climate event can be attributable to climate change alone, we all recognize the growing seriousness of dramatic weather on our world – such as Typhoon Haiyan, in the Philippines last year, which killed more than 6,000 people.

Even far less-fatal weather events can wreak social and economic chaos for millions of people – just look at this week’s dramatic polar vortex in North America, which has seen the lowest temperatures ever recorded in New York City in January, and thousands of flights cancelled across the country.

It’s like something out of the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” – but it’s happening right now.

Ladies and gentlemen,

If we are to successfully address climate change, we will have to change the way we live, the way we work, the way we move around, and even the way we entertain ourselves.

We will have to build sustainable lives; phase out non-sustainable energy sources; and use natural resources far more efficiently.

And this is for the long-term.

The carbon dioxide already accumulated in our atmosphere, and the heat accumulated in our oceans, will continue to have effects on the global climate right through the 21st century – even if reduced global greenhouse gas emissions to zero today.

Everyone will need to work together to address this historic challenge. And to do this we need to tap into the power of young people. We need to leverage your energy, your creativity and your capacity to innovate. We need your skills, your ideas and your passion.

So let me challenge all of you to come up with concrete proposals and solutions as the outcome of the 2014 FerMUN conference.

Share with us – and share with the world – the ways you think climate change should be tackled, and how you believe we can leverage information and communication technologies to do that.

But let me also challenge you individually to consider developing future careers as professionals involved in developing sustainable solutions –in particular as many of you are in the process of deciding what to study at university.

There is a tremendous future for professionals trained and motivated in sustainability, and for professionals who can promote sustainability across different sectors, industries and businesses.

Distinguished delegates,

Let me close by inviting you to look specifically at the contribution ICTs can make in delivering a sustainable future, and at the work we at the ITU are doing in this area, particularly in terms of monitoring, mitigation, adaptation, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as in disaster preparedness and response.

We are all very much aware that the future has to be sustainable – or there won’t be a future…

For so many of our planet’s species.

And that includes us.

So let me commend you, on behalf of the ITU Secretary-General, for choosing this vital issue as the theme of your conference – and let us offer you the warmest welcome to ITU’s headquarters over the coming days.

Thank you.