To mark the 20th anniversary of one of the most powerful events of the twentieth century, the fall of the Berlin wall, the Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF) sent its Youth Forum team to Berlin on November 9. The Youth Forum carried GHF’s message that the world has the power to tear down walls of poverty, hunger and other humanitarian catastrophes, including the suffering caused by climate change. As Mischa Liatowitsch, head of the Youth Forum, put it, “Individuals can choose to be apathetic, or they can become part of the solution by acting now and acting together.”

Villa Rigot Talk - 28 October 2009

Satellite data – exploring potential benefits for humanitarian issues
In partnership with the German Aerospace Center

Dr. Michael Bittner, Head of Department, Climate and Atmospheric Products, German Aerospace Center

Three of the world’s great classical musicians have contributed unique musical statements in support of global efforts to address the devastating human impact of climate change. Renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, operatic soprano Barbara Hendricks, and cellist and conductor Christian Benda recently became Climate Allies in support of Kofi Annan’s “Tck Tck Tck: Time for Climate Justice” campaign.
 

A transcript of a speech given by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the Major Economies Forum in London on 19 October 2009.

 Can I say first of all welcome to London; welcome to these discussions at Lancaster House; welcome to what I hope will be a very constructive set of discussions that will lead us towards Copenhagen.

AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf is the first footballer to become a Climate Ally and sign up to the “Tck Tck Tck Time for Climate Justice” campaign. He joins former UN Secretary-General and President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, Kofi Annan, in his campaign for a fair, robust and binding agreement at the climate talks in Copenhagen in December.

speech by Kofi Annan

Prime Minister Loekke Rasmussen,
President Barroso,
Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to join you for this crucial conference.
Your presence here powerfully underlines your commitment to combating climate change.

You represent the world’s most respected and influential media.

And your influence – on our leaders and on the public - has never been more important than in the next few weeks. 

 Mr Annan warmly congratulates President Obama on his Nobel Peace Prize.  It was an unexpected but inspired choice.

In an increasingly challenging and volatile world, President Obama has given a sense of hope and optimism to millions around the world.

"We welcome the recent statement of President Obama on climate change," said Walter Fust, CEO of the Global Humanitarian Forum, a Geneva based organization that brings together governments, international organizations, businesses and civil society to help solve humanitarian problems.

The Gabriel Silver Memorial Lecture, Columbia University, New York 

President Bollinger, Dean Coatsworth, faculty members, guests and students It is a great honour to have been asked to become a Global Fellow at Columbia – and
to have been invited to give the Gabriel Silver Memorial Lecture.

 Geneva, 14 September 2009 – The Global Humanitarian Forum issued today the key recommendations of high-level participants to its June 2009 conference on the growing human impact of climate change.

CEO Walter Fust spoke here on the Global Humanitarian Forum’s report on the human impact of climate change, The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis, focusing on the increasingly negative consequences people around the world face as a result of a changing climate.

CEO Walter Fust was also invited to present The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis at this conference, as well as the campaign www.timeforclimatejustice.org.
The conference was attended by more than 300 broadcast media specialists.
Mr. Fust also attended the conference in his function as Chairman of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication.
 

Geneva, August 31, 2009 - Kofi Annan, President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, called on the international community to create ways for people to defend themselves from climate change.

Geneva, 28 August 2009 – With 100 days until the start of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on December 7, 2009, the Global Humanitarian Forum calls for governmental leaders to redouble their efforts to reach a fair, robust and binding agreement on climate change. 
 

Reducing global warming risks is in India’s interest 
 
A chorus of criticism has greeted India’s endorsement of the 2°C goal for containing global warming risks at the Major Economies Forum (MEF).

Mary Robinson, Global Humanitarian Forum´s Board Member, participated in the largest Swedish political meeting of the year, the Almedalen Week. together with Margot Wahlström, Vice-President of the European Commission, and Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway advocating the importance of climate justice.

For people on Kiribati and Tuvalu facing increasing climate pressures, the description “refugee” has too many negative connotations, write Jane McAdam and Maryanne Loughry

Can I start by welcoming you to Geneva and this very important conference.
Looking around the room, it is good to see so many people who attended the Global
Humanitarian Forum’s inaugural conference last year but also to welcome new faces here for the first time.

Global Humanitarian Forum, Ericsson, WMO, and Zain and other mobile
operators to deploy up to 5,000 automatic weather stations in mobile network sites across Africa, where less than 300 are reporting today

Global Humanitarian Forum convenes major international conference exclusively devoted to human impact of climate change 

Wide-ranging group of concerned international leaders to attend

First ever report exclusively focused on the global human impact of climate change calculates more than 300 million people are seriously affected by climate change at a total economic cost of $125 billion per year

23-24 June
Geneva, Switzerland

The world’s foremost gathering point for the broader humanitarian community.

Personally chaired by Kofi Annan, the 2009 Forum is the second edition of the Global Humanitarian Forum’s annual centerpiece event. It will be held from Tuesday 23 to Wednesday 24 June in Geneva, Switzerland.

GENEVA, June 24 - A roundtable discussed the link between climate change and security and how better cooperation could be encouraged among peoples and nations to avoid conflict. The group concluded that climate change did not necessarily lead to wars but was certainly a source of tension because of competition for dwindling resources.

GENEVA, Switzerland, 22 April – Kofi Annan today called for united action to support the world’s poorest in adapti
ng to climate change. “Those who contributed least to climate change suffer most”, says Kofi Annan; “helping the po
or adapt is our responsibility, and the polluter must pay.