LOCATION Singapore Management University

SPEAKER British High Commissioner, Paul Madden

EVENT ECO-Singapore World Leadership Conference

DATE 15/06/2009

Delighted to be invited to open this world leadership conference.

When I was a student and in my early 20s in Britain, I had the opportunity to participate in a number of events a bit like this. I had the chance to travel to youth programmes in the US, Japan and Hong Kong. They brought together young people from different countries, full of curiousity and passion, to discuss the various challenges the world faced.

And they always began in the same way, an old guy was invited to come along and open the conference by telling them about leadership. Well, I guess today I am that old guy.

When I was a student there were lots of things we felt passionate about: Would the world run out of resources? Could there be a fairer distribution of resources to those in the poorest countries? How could various conflicts between and within countries be resolved. But there wasn't one single challenge of quite the same compelling importance as the one we face today with climate change. So I am glad that is the major theme of your conference today.

The challenge
There is no longer any serious doubt about the fact that climate change is occurring as a result of human activities and that the consequences will be very dramatic.

All of us have seen examples of the effects, on our TV screens. Forest fires in Australia and droughts in China. Violent cylones, like the terrible Cyclone Nargis which caused so much destruction in Burma/Myanmar last year. The retreat of glaciers, so that in just 25 years the Himalayan Glaciers which are the ultimate source of water for some 1.5 billion people could be gone.

The Red Cross estimates that in 2001 for the first time, the number of environmental refugees was greater than the number of people fleeing war and conflict. Just think about what that means. 

Unless something is done, there is a 75% chance global temperature will rise by 2-3 degrees over the next 50 years, and a 50% chance of a 5 degree rise. This will cause sea-level rise, extreme weather, falling crop yields and a massive displacement of populations.

The Asian Development Bank published an important study a couple of months ago, on the economics of climate change in South East Asia. It found that SEAsia is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change. This is due to the heavy concentration of populations in coastal areas, and heavy reliance on agriculture and natural resources. It is especially vulnerable to sea-level and temperature rise, higher levels of tropical diseases and declining rice yields.

The study concluded that the average cost of climate change for the SEAsia countries could be 6.7% of their GDP by 2100 - twice the global average.

The response
So what should we do? Panic? Conclude that it's all too difficult and just give up? No, absolutely not.

Many of you will be familiar with the Stern Report on the Economics of Climate Change published in 2006. Stern, a distinguished economist, found that climate change could have an impact on the world economy of between 5-20% of GDP. But he concluded that doing something about it now, would cost very much less - only 1% of GDP. He said that if we wait, it will cost us $85 to address the damage done by each tonne of carbon emitted. But if we start now, it would cost only $25 to cut a tonne of carbon emitted. Surely this should be a no-brainer? I had the pleasure of hosting Nick Stern here in Singapore last year, and introducing him to the PM and a number of other Singaporean leaders. He was a very powerful advocate of the need to act now.

But if it's that simple, why isn't the world doing everything we need to already? I think there are two reasons. The first is how we balance future interests against today's interests, particularly in the middle of a global recession. And the second is how we balance the interests of different countries and players.

It is undoubtedly true that if we are to reorient our economies towards a lower carbon intensity, we will need to see some significant changes in the way we all live our lives. We will need to be much more sensitive about how we use energy for transport, industry and heating or cooling our homes. And about how we destroy the tropical rainforests. And it is your generation who are going to have to make most of those trade offs. As Tony Blair once said "The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes". But there are also going to be many opportunities in the new low carbon world. Many of you will probably end up working in jobs that we haven't even heard of today.

So far, only the developed nations have made binding commitments to reduce their CO2 emissions. After all they are the ones who caused most of the damage so far. My own country leads the way. We have committed to an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 and we are on track to achieve this. But if the world is to achieve the necessary cuts, everyone will have to play their part, including particularly the major emerging economies like China and India. Of course we are not saying that they don't have a right to grow their economies and lift more people out of poverty. We recognise that they will need financial and technical assistance.

This year is a crucial year, with the UN meeting in Copenhagen in December to seek agreement on the way forward beyond 2012. We want to see that meeting begin to build a global low carbon economy that will bring about a safer and more sustainable world.

Your role
By being here today, you have all shown that you care about these issues. So what can you do about it. How can you show the necessary leadership. I'd like to suggest three ways.

First, in how each of you live your personal lives. As Mahatma Gandhi said "You must be the change you want to see in the world".  Each of us can take some responsibility for how we use the world's resources through our lifestyles.

Second, in the expectations you place on your leaders. The countries you come from have a range of political systems. The role of mass movement NGOs varies greatly between different countries. But wherever you come from, your leaders listen to what their people are saying and thinking. Leadership is not about forcing people to do things, it is about getting them to want to things for themselves. As Lao Tzu said, "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."

The third way you can show leadership is by the leadership roles you will aspire to in your respective careers in the years ahead. Whether you are in the public sector or the private sector, and whether you are a chief executive or a middle manager, you can make a difference. I think an America President, John Quincy Adams, summed up leadership rather well. He said "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

Thank you.

Back to newsroom

Back to top