8 quotes from the Agenda Dialogues on tackling the climate crisis
From melting ice to droughts, the impacts of climate change are being seen around the world. Image: REUTERS/Lindsay DeDario
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- The latest World Economic Forum Agenda Dialogues looked at how to boost action on climate change.
- From political commitments to the role of indigenous communities, a range of measures featured in the discussion.
- The COVID-19 crisis in India was also discussed.
The latest Agenda Dialogues brought together leaders from around the world to discuss how to tackle climate change, turning words into action to create a more equitable, resilient and sustainable future.
Taking part were:
Chair:
Børge Brende, President, World Economic Forum
Moderator:
Adrian Monck, Managing Director, Head of Public and Social Engagement
Panellists:
Al Gore, Vice President of the United States (1993-2001); Chairman and Co-Founder, Generation Investment Management, USA
François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada
Jay R. Inslee, Governor of the State of Washington
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT)
Feike Sybesma, Honorary Chairman, Royal DSM, Netherlands
Anish Shah, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mahindra Group, India
What’s the World Economic Forum doing about climate change?
These are a selection of the best takeaways from the participants.
The commitments made this year have the potential to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn things around for our planet.
”When you have a healthy environment, you have a healthy economy. That’s what the world is starting to understand.
”
Companies have power, companies have impact. If you have power and impact, hopefully you also take the responsibility that goes with that.
”We [indigenous peoples] are the engineers of nature … We know how to live in harmony with nature.
”My state just adopted a cap on carbon and a clean fuel standard - and we put those policies together with entrepreneurial brilliance. We know the seeds that Al Gore planted twenty years ago have now arrived and are sprouting in the White House and are sprouting in boardrooms too - and it's at a perfect moment.
”Tackling climate change is not a choice, it’s a necessity.
”We all have a moral obligation to do better and support one another as we fight the climate crisis, and we need to do it with great urgency.
”We need to invest in nature. 1% of climate finance dedicated to nature is not enough.
”
The panel concluded with a discussion on the current COVID-19 crisis in India, when Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice-Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, India and Genya Dana, Head of Healthcare Transformation, World Economic Forum Head joined.
Shobana Kamineni explained the current situation in India, particularly around the pressure on healthcare systems and medical supplies.
She urged other countries to remember this could happen to anyone - it's not just an Indian crisis, she said. We're in a 'bad situation', she added, but 'it's not going to defeat us.'
"I never want to see anything like this ever again," she concluded.
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