“It has been inspiring to visit the Arctic,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the newspaper “Svalbardposten” during his visit. “I am here to see for myself the damage wrought on this fragile environment by climate change. Standing on the polar ice yesterday, I was overwhelmed by a sense not only of the power of nature but also of its vulnerability. It is now clearer to me what I as Secretary-General of the UN must do to take up the battle against climate change.”
The UN Secretary-General was in Norway for three days, from 30 August to 2 September.
Oslo and Svalbard
The main objective of the Secretary-General’s visit was to discuss challenges relating to the climate in the northern region, although the agenda also included the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, the global financial crisis and UN reform efforts.
In Oslo, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with His Majesty King Harald, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre.
The Secretary-General and his wife then travelled to Svalbard accompanied by Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim to see how the climate crisis has affected the ice masses in the polar region.
Alarming experience
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Norwegian and South Korean research stations on Ny-Ålesund as well as the research vessel “Lance”, which is currently located at the edge of the North Pole ice cap about 400 km north of Svalbard.
“It has been most alarming to see the many glaciers that have receded. If we do not stop this trend, the Arctic may be ice free by 2030. We must therefore act now,” he said.
The Secretary-General also visited the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, as well as the Svalbard Science Centre which houses the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), before returning to Oslo and then Geneva.
Plan to deliver a pointed message
Minister of Foreign Affairs Støre emphasised the importance of the Secretary-General’s visit to Svalbard in advance of the climate summits in New York on 22 September and in Copenhagen in December.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the world community have much to resolve prior to the climate summit in Copenhagen in December, when the UN will attempt to reach a new climate regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The first commitment period under the Protocol will expire in 2012.
“I intend to deliver a pointed, unambiguous message in the wake of my visit to the North Pole. Now is the time to take decisions. We must achieve a global, equitable and comprehensive regime in Copenhagen to safeguard the future for humans and the planet,” said the Secretary-General to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).
Minister of the Environment and International Development Solheim expressed optimism when he stated after the visit:
“It is significant that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could speak to the world from the edge of the ice, and he will incorporate his experience into his key talks with world leaders in the period leading up to the Copenhagen summit.”