 | |
| Speaking at an event to launch the November 27-29, 2009 event, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said that the 53-member Commonwealth must call for greater and urgent global action to save the planet and our civilisation. (File photo) | |
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, July 2, 2008 - Trinidad's Prime Minister Patrick Manning has recommended a four-pronged attack on the problem of climate change, as he urged that there be a focus on climate change at next year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port of Spain.
Speaking at an event to launch the November 27-29, 2009 event, Mr Manning said that the 53-member Commonwealth must call for greater and urgent global action to save the planet and our civilisation.
"Firstly, the international community must ensure that the present consensus regarding the need to reduce harmful emissions is translated into a plan of action, agreed by all, with timetables and targets that take into account the developmental needs of all nations," he said.
"Secondly, all nations must make the individual effort to source power from renewable sources of supply like wind, solar, bio-mass, waves and geothermal; and greater global resources, including from large corporations, must be deployed into the development of the technology for doing this efficiently and adequately.
"Thirdly, we must all move towards greater efficiency in the use of energy, applying the technology that continues to be developed for conservation in industry and transportation as well as in domestic usage," Mr Manning added.
He said the fourth aspect of the approach should be a reduction in the levels of consumption.
The Trinidad Prime Minister said this would require "attitudinal and cultural adjustment, involving all governments, corporations, communities and citizens, which will lead to moderation, discretion and discrimination in consumption patterns and activity".
"The world, particularly those who are blessed with abundance, can no longer afford to be excessive or wasteful. Already the few consume too much, and the majority too little, contributing to the extreme poverty that affects over one billion people in the world today. But what faces us now is not only the underdevelopment in so many countries of the planet, but catastrophe of global and cataclysmic proportions if present levels of consumption continue or rise. Discipline and balance are now needed more than ever," he added.
|
