‘Bula’ Chorus Greets PM
BAINIMARAMA MESSAGE CHEERED BY CONFERENCE OF YOUTH
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama on Saturday was welcomed with loud choruses of ‘bula’ at the Integrieta Gesamtschule Bonn-Beuel in Germany where he closed the Conference of Youth 13 (COY13).
The Conference of Youth 13 took place from November 2 to 4 where youth leaders from 114 countries converged to prepare an outcomes document for COP23.
As the President of COP23, Mr Bainimarama commended the vigour with which more than 1000 youths participated over the two days to prepare their contribution towards COP23. He assured them that their views would be taken on board when COP23 begins today. He was joined by the Mayor of Bonn, Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa.
Mr Bainimarama also commended the ‘Talanoa’ spirit that was part of the theme for the youth conference, which was ‘Talanoa Mada, Youth Accelerating Climate Action’. “I thank you for coming together and Ms Espinosa will take your message to the Parties in the coming weeks. Any leader worthy of the title should know that they have the responsibility to take decisive action on your behalf and the many millions of young people you represent. It is wonderful to see the diversity of faces in this room from 114 nations taking part in COY13,” the PM said to a cheering crowd. “I am especially pleased and proud to see our people from the Pacific, especially from Fiji here with you. “I am extremely proud and
grateful you have adopted a word full of meaning for the Pacific that we intend to make a central theme of our Presidency of COP23 – talanoa. That is precisely what the whole world has to do over the next two weeks- we will talk. But it is not good enough to be merely talkers. As you know, when it comes to climate change, we have to be doers,” he said amid the applause from the youth leaders.
“You, the young people, no matter where they live in the world, who have the energy and commitment we need for the transformation we must all make,” he said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Ms Espinosa who told the youth leaders that their voices have a place in COP23.
Bonn Mayor Mr Sridharan made a plea to people of his generation to take decisive action for the future of the young people.