Her comments were made during an address at the Young Commonwealth Climate Change Summit, which was held at the Commonwealth Secretariat, where she reiterated the message that an agreement on global action to combat climate change was essential, as the consequences of not addressing these issues would have an impact on all countries, with many of the negative effects most sharply felt by developing nations. She said:

'We need to have a strong agreement in Copenhagen, as far as possible on two degrees centigrade. We will need action on finance, on technology transfer, on deforestation, on adaptation and on mitigation. The realities are that the implications of inaction would be disastrous for millions and millions of people.

The gains that the world’s poorest countries have made are threatened at this time and, indeed, could be lost. Fifty three per cent of African disasters are climate related and one third of African people now live in drought prone areas. By 2020 yields from water fed agriculture in Africa will have gone down by fifty per cent, so imagine what that effect would have on food security on that continent.

Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate, has said there is no plan B if Copenhagen doesn’t succeed. We have to succeed. Never mind talking about it’s going to be a failure, don’t say that, don’t allow people to say it, you must believe that this can be done and you must help us to build a momentum, your voices have to be heard.'

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Notes for Editors

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