• Introduction
• Lord Browne's Keynote
• Heads of State Session
• Bringing About Change
• Worksessions
• Economy/Emissions
• Worksessions
• Infrastructure
• Worksessions
• Conclusions
• Al Gore (timesonline.co.uk)

Head of State Session

Lord Patten of Barnes, the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, expressed his delight at being able to welcome to the University His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, and His Excellency Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives. It is not often, Lord Patten remarked, that Oxford plays host to two presidents, and we were indeed most privileged to hear from two such inspiring figures this evening.

In his concluding comments on the Times/Smith School World Forum, Professor Sir David King returned to the important messages from the two presidents. Their voices, he said, are crucial not only because of the size of the challenges they face but because their impressive achievements constitute inspiring examples of leadership on low-carbon growth.

Far from turning a blind eye to economic growth, Rwanda embodies the understanding that the maintenance of ecosystem services through reforestation and restoration is crucial to enabling economic development. Often overshadowed by the rapid economic growth of China, Rwanda is turning into a green, low-carbon country while maintaining an impressive GDP growth rate of 10 percent per annum.

President Paul Kagame Rwanda, The Rt Hon Baron Patten of Barnes
President Mohamed Nasheed Maldives

Sir David repeated the poignant testimony of the president of the Maldives: “My people will die” if we, the global civilisation, fail to act decisively on the climate crisis. Rising sea levels could mean the end of a civilisation with a long history and common culture spread across islands where the highest elevation is just 2.4 metres above sea level. Faced with this serious risk, the Maldives, through its commitment to being the world’s first carbon-neutral country, represents a clear exemplar of the direction the global community needs to take.

These nations’ examples, Sir David said, beg the question: Should there be a new group of countries, the “G1,” comprised of those who, in striving to meet their development goals, commit never to exceed 1 tonne of CO2 emissions per capita per annum?

Sir David underscored that we need to ensure low-emitting countries are not perversely encouraged to increase their emissions up to a carbon cap but instead are incentivised to participate in low-carbon growth. By having access to carbon cash flows that reward their current low emissions, such countries can leapfrog yesterday’s technologies to the best low-carbon technologies.