To start, I must tell you an interesting story: everybody know Easter Island in

the Pacific Ocean, one of the most remote locations on Earth. The gigantic
stone statues located in a volcanic crater are all that remain of what was a
complex civilization. That civilization disappeared because of the overexploitation of environmental resources. Competition between rival clans led
to rapid deforestation, soil erosion and the destruction of bird population,
undermining the food that sustained human life. The warming sings of
impending destruction were picked up too late to avert collapse.
At the start of the 21 Century, we are confronted with the same crisis, a crisis
that links today and tomorrow. The crisis is climate change. But we have an
important difference, now it is still a preventable crisis.
Climate shocks already figure prominently in the lives of the poor. Events
such as floods and storms are often terrible experiences for those affected:
they threaten lives and leave people feeling insecure. But climate shocks
also erode long-term opportunities for human development. No single
climate shock can be attributed to climate change. However, climate change
is getting up the risks and vulnerabilities facing the poor. Vulnerability to
climate shocks is unequally distributed. Hurricane Katrina provided a potent
reminder of human frailty in the face of climate change even in the richest
countries

The battle against dangerous climate change is part of the fight for
humanity.
Winning that battle will require far-reaching changes at many levelsin
consumption, in how we produce and price energy, and in international
cooperation. Above all, though, it will require far-reaching changes in how we
think about our ecological interdependence, about social justice for the
worlds poor, and about the human rights and entitlements of future
generations.
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. We are faced now with
the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of
now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as
being too lateWe may cry out for time to pause in her passage, but time is
deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled
residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: Too late.

You already know enough. So do I. It is not knowledge we lack. What is

missing is the courage to understand what we know and to draw
conclusions.