Al Gore called for more concerted action to save the planet yesterday as he addressed the audience at the University of Poznan, after receiving an honorary doctorate from the University during a side event to the 14th climate change conference taking place in the Polish city.
The former US Vice-President and climate change campaigner said that delegates in Poznan must wake up to the new reality of a world that is moving towards an apocalyptic future unless drastic corrective measures are taken immediately. Polish astronomer Copernicus showed that the world revolves around the sun at a time when common knowledge was that we were the center of the universe. Despite the evidence, the road to acceptance of this new reality was difficult and filled with setbacks. Similarly, Poznan delegates are also prone to misperceptions, despite the massive scientific information available, they fail to realize the urgency of the situation.This week Al Gore met with the US president-elect Barak Obama to discuss climate change. Obama declared after the discussion that: “the time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intent my administration to do”.
Gore thanked the university, the city authorities, and his friend Dr Jan Kulczyk, chairman of Green Cross International, for this honor and for the invitation to Poznan.
In the meantime at the Poznan conference, little progress has been achieved. Despite the desperate calls for action of pacific island states and many LDCs, negotiations are stalling due to the self-interests of a few nations. A few hours before the closing of the conference, EU president Sarkozy called for an urgent EU agreement in Brussels on CC in a last-minute attempt to achieve progress in Poznan and provide a positive closing to the French presidency of the EU.