Our ecosystem doesn't have borders.

Wherever we are, our actions have repercussions on the whole Earth.

Our planet's atmosphere is an indivisible whole.

It is an asset we share. In Greenland, lakes are appearing on the landscape.

The ice cap is melting at a speed even the most pessimistic scientists did not envision 10 years ago.

More and more of these glacier-fed rivers are merging together and burrowing though the surface.

It was thought the water would freeze in the depths of the ice.

On the contrary, it flows under the ice, carrying the ice sheet into the sea,
where it breaks into icebergs.

As the freshwater of Greenland's ice sheet seeps into the salt water of the oceans,

low-lying lands around the globe are threatened.

Sea levels are rising. Water expanding as it gets warmer caused, in the 20th century alone, a rise of 20 centimeters. Everything becomes unstable.

Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to the slightest change in water temperature.
30% have disappeared.

They are an essential link in the chain of species.

In the atmosphere, major wind streams are changing direction.

Rain cycles are altered. The geography of climates is modified.

The inhabitants of low-lying islands, here in the Maldives, for example, are on the front line.

They are increasingly concerned. Some are already looking for new, more hospitable lands.

If sea levels continue to rise
faster and faster,

what will major cities like Tokyo, the world's most populous city, do?

Every year, scientists' predictions become more alarming.

70% of the world's population lives on coastal plains. 11 of the 15 biggest cities stand on a coastline or river estuary.

As the seas rise, salt will invade the water table, depriving inhabitants of drinking water. Migratory phenomena are inevitable.The only uncertainty concerns their scale. In Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro is unrecognizable.

80% of its glaciers have disappeared.In summer, the rivers no longer flow.

Local peoples are affected by the lack of water. Even on the world's highest peaks, in the heart of the Himalayas,eternal snows and glaciers are receding.

Yet these glaciers play an essential role in the water cycle.

They trap the water from the monsoons as ice and release it in the summer
when the snows melt. The Himalayan glaciers are the source of all the great Asian rivers,

the Indus, Ganges, Mekong, Yangtze Kiang...2 billion people depend on them for drinking water and to irrigate their crops,as in Bangladesh. On the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra,Bangladesh is directly affectedby phenomena occurring in the Himalayas and at sea level.

This is one of the most populous and poorest countries in the world.

It is already hit by global warming.

The combined impact of increasingly dramatic floods and hurricanes could make
a third of its land mass disappear.

When populations are subjected to these devastating phenomena,

they eventually move away. Wealthy countries will not be spared.

Droughts are occurring all over the planet.

In Australia, half of farmland is already affected.

We are in the process of compromising the climatic balance

that has allowed us to develop over 12,00000 years.

More and more wildfires encroach on major cities.

In turn, they exacerbate global warming.As the trees burn, they release carbon dioxide.The system that controls our climate has been severely disrupted.

The elements on which it relies have been disrupted. The clock of climate change is ticking in these magnificent landscapes.

Here in Siberia, and elsewhere across the globe,

it is so cold that the ground is constantly frozen.

It's known as permafrost. Under its surface lies a climatic time-bomb.

Methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

If the permafrost melts, the methane releases would cause
the greenhouse effect to race out of control with consequences no one can predict.

We would literally be in unknown territory.

Humanity has no more than 10 years
to reverse the trend and avoid crossing into this territory...

Life on Earth as we have never known it.

We have created phenomena
we cannot control.
Since our origins, water, air and forms of life are intimately linked.

But recently we have broken those links.

Let's face the facts. We must believe what we know.

All we have just seen is a reflection of human behavior.

We have shaped the Earth in our image. We have very little time to change.

How can this century carry the burden of 9 billion human beings if we refuse to be called to account for everything we alone have done?

20% of the world's population consumes 80% of its resources

The world spends 12 times more on military expenditures than on aid to developing countries 5,00000 people a day die because of dirty drinking water 1 billion people
have no access to safe drinking water Nearly 1 billion people are going hungry

Over 50% of grain traded around the world is used for animal feed or biofuels

40% of arable land has suffered long-term damage

Every year, 13 million hectares of forest disappear

1 mammal in 4, 1 bird in 8, 1 amphibian in 3 are threatened with extinction

Species are dying out at a rhythm 1,00000 times faster than the natural rate

Three quarters of fishing grounds are exhausted, depleted or in dangerous decline
The average temperature of the last 15 years has been the highest ever recorded

The ice cap is 40% thinner than 40 years ago

There may be at least 200 million climate refugees by 2050

The cost of our actions is high.

Others pay the price without having been actively involved.

I have seen refugee camps as big as cities, sprawling in the desert.

How many men, women and children will be left by the wayside tomorrow?

Must we always build walls to break the chain of human solidarity,

separate peoples and protect the happiness of some from others' misery?

It's too late to be a pessimist.

I know that a single human  can knock down every wall.

It's too late to be a pessimist.

Worldwide, 4 children out of 5 attend school.

Never has learning been given to so many human beings.

Everyone, from richest to poorest, can make a contribution.

Lesotho, one of the world's poorest countries, is proportionally the one that invests
most in its people's education.

Qatar, one of the richest states,
has opened up to the best universities.

Culture, education, research and innovation

are inexhaustible resources.

In the face of misery and suffering,

millions of NGOs prove that solidarity between peoples is stronger
than the selfishness of nations.

In Bangladesh, a man thought the unthinkable and founded a bank
that lends only to the poor.

In 30 years, it has changed the lives of 150 million people.

Antarctica is a continent with immense natural resources that no country can claim for itself, a natural reserve devoted to peace and science.

A treaty signed by 49 states has made it a treasure shared by all humanity.

It's too late to be a pessimist.

Governments have acted to protect nearly 2% of territorial waters.

It's not much but it's 2 times more than 10 years ago.

The first natural parks were created just over a century ago.

They cover over 13% of the continents.

They create spaces where human activity is in step with the preservation
of species, soils and landscapes.

This harmony between humans and nature
can become the rule, no longer the exception.

In the US, New York has realized what nature does for us.

These forests and lakes supply all the city's drinking water.

In South Korea, the forests had been devastated by war.

Thanks to a national reforestation program,

they once more cover 65% of the country.More than 75% of paper is recycled.

Costa Rica has made a choice between military spending and land conservation.

The country no longer has an army.

It prefers to devote its resources to education, ecotourism and the protection
of its primary forest.

Gabon is one of the world's leading producers of wood.

It enforces selective logging. Not more than 1 tree every hectare.

Its forests are one of the country's most important resources,

but they have time to regenerate.

Programs exist that guarantee sustainable forest management.
They must become mandatory. For consumers and producers, justice is an opportunity to be seized.

When trade is fair, when both buyer and seller benefit,everybody can prosper and earn a decent living.

How can there be justice and equity between people
whose only tools are their hands and those who harvest their crops
with a machine and state subsidies? Let's be responsible consumers.

Think about what we buy! It's too late to be a pessimist.

I have seen agriculture on a human scale.

It can feed the whole planet if meat production doesn't take the food out of people's mouths.

I have seen fishermen who take care what they catch and care for the riches of the ocean.

I have seen houses producing their own energy.

5,00000 people live in the world's first ever eco-friendly district in Freiburg, Germany. Other cities partner the project.

Mumbai is the thousandth to join them.

The governments of New Zealand, Iceland, Austria, Sweden and other nations

have made the development of renewable energy sources a top priority.

80% of the energy we consume comes from fossil energy sources.

Every week, two new coal-fired generating plants are built in China alone.

But I have also seen, in Denmark,
a prototype of a coal-fired plant that releases carbon into the soil rather than the air.

A solution for the future? Nobody knows yet.

I have seen, in Iceland, an electricity plant powered by the Earth's heat.

Geothermal power.

I have seen a sea snake lying on the swell to absorb the energy of the waves and produce electricity.

I have seen wind farms off Denmark's coast that produce 20% of the country's electricity.

The USA, China, India, Germany and Spain are the biggest investors in renewable energy. They have already created over 2.5 million jobs.

Where on earth doesn't the wind blow? I have seen desert expanses baking in the sun.

Everything on Earth is linked, and the Earth is linked to the sun, its original energy source. Can humans not imitate plants and capture its energy?

In one hour, the sun gives the Earth the same amount of energy as that consumed by all humanity in one year. As long as the Earth exists, the sun's energy will be inexhaustible. All we have to do is stop drilling the Earth and start looking to the sky. All we have to do is learn to cultivate the sun. All these experiments are only examples, but they testify to a new awareness.

They lay down markers for a new human adventure based on moderation, intelligence and sharing.It's time to come together.What's important is not what's gone, but what remains. We still have half the world's forests,thousands of rivers, lakes and glaciers, and thousands of thriving species.We know that the solutions are there today.We all have the power to change.

 

So what are we waiting for?