MORNING SESSION - Mrs. Irena Zubcevic, Ms. Tania Valerie Raguz, H.E. Mr. Yuriy A. Sergeyev,Dr. Christine K. Durbak, Dr. Emily K. Shuman, Mr. Kurt Dahlin, Mr. Glenn Wiser.<strong>World</strong> <strong>Information</strong> <strong>Transfer</strong>2 <strong>World</strong> Ecology ReportSummer-Fall 2010Ms. Tania Valerie RaguzUN-CSD 18 Vice-Chair, EasternEuropean States, Mission of Croatiato the United NationsModerator introductionThis year’s theme is “Challenges for a Changing Climate”.I have been given the great pleasure to be yourmoderator for the morning session. I have had the opportunityto work with the <strong>World</strong> <strong>Information</strong> <strong>Transfer</strong>through my dealings with the Commission on SustainableDevelopment here at the United Nations where Ihave been a member on the bureau both last year andthis year representing the group of Eastern EuropeanStates. Before I hand over the floor to the openingspeaker for this morning, I just want to run through thismorning’s programme so that you are well aware whatwe are going to be discussing.It would give me great pleasure to introduce Dr.Christine Durbak, the Chair and CEO of <strong>World</strong> <strong>Information</strong><strong>Transfer</strong>. And then Dr. Durbak will be followedby his excellency Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev who is thepermanent representative of Ukraine to the United Nationsand had been an active participant in this series ofconferences. It’s nice to see you back again Excellency.Then I will turn the microphone over to my dear colleague,Irena Zubcevic, who is the senior sustainable developmentofficer from the United Nations Departmentfor economic and social affairs and from the secretariatfor sustainable development.For the Keynote address we would like to welcome thisyear, Dr. Emily Shuman, who will be dealing with ‘GlobalClimate Change and Children’s Health’ and then wewill listen to Werner Obermeyer from the <strong>World</strong> HealthOrganization. After that presentation, we will watch afilm screening entitled ‘Silent Snow’ which has been directedby Jan van den Berg. Then Glenn Wiser, seniorAttorney for the Centre of International EnvironmentalLaw and Steering Committee, member of InternationalPOPs Elimination Network. Finally, we will have a presentationon ‘Children’s Health and Social Developmentcombating water contamination in Rural African Villageswho we will hear from representative from WaterWells for Africa, in particular founder and presidentKurt Dahlin. With this I have the great pleasure to turnthe microphone to Dr. Durbak for her introductory andwelcoming remarks.Dr. Christine K. DurbakFounder and Chair of WITOpening StatementYour Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Colleagues,Students and Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalfof <strong>World</strong> <strong>Information</strong> <strong>Transfer</strong>, I would like to givethanks to the Government of Ukraine for their continuedco-sponsorship of our Conferences since 1992, theGovernment of Azerbaijan and the Mission of Belarusfor their support of our 19th Conference.Today’s theme examines how we confront challenges– a topic each one of us knows from personal experience.Daily life, in fact, consists of a range of challenges,and our feelings of strength or weakness come, in part,from our success in handling the obstacles we confront.The impending climate change and the ramifications ofchemicals and pesticides, particularly on children willtest all of us in different ways. The manner in which weface and cope with these challenges will affect the way weand you will live in the forthcoming years.
From our work over the last 23 years, we have concludedthat the fear of change confuses the understandingof complex challenges and slows down progress towardsolutions. When people are afraid of somethingnew, they fall back on superstition, old hatreds andunfounded beliefs. Our current global stage can be observedfrom that perspective: on the one hand are thoseafraid of knowing the problems because that would requirethem to do things differently; on the other arethose who embrace the challenges because they want todo things differently. The first group embraces the statusquo, the second group embraces change. The most creativeminds are to be found in the second group. They arewilling to face the inevitable change and thus conquertheir fear of change.However, there is also another category. Those whoseek a fantasy life without challenges or problems.Those that make assumptions and come to conclusionswithout science based evidence. Some in this categorychange historical facts by removing names or even factsof history from text books. Those are the ones that disregardthe facts of reality, for example the fact that thetemperature of the earth’s oceans has increased. Theycannot tell the difference between evidence derivedfrom scientific research and “evidence” derived from adream. This group of individuals contributes the leastto finding solutions to the planet’s toughest challengesand adheres to regression by playing on people’s fear ofchange.Today we’ll be hearing from scientists and expertson a few very important issues. This morning we’lllearn that children face hazards today that were neitherknown nor suspected a few decades ago. They are atrisk of exposure to over 85,000 synthetic chemicals. Inthe USA they are most likely exposed to 15,000 highproduction volume (HPV) chemicals which are widelydispersed in foods, household products and pesticides.Less than half of them have been tested for their potentialhuman toxicity, particularly for children who areparticularly vulnerable to chemicals in the environmentbecause of their disproportionately heavy exposuresand their inherent biological susceptibility. Moreover,because their organs are still undergoing developmentand maturation during exposure to environmental pollutants,children are more likely to sustain injuries withlifelong impacts.Among all the organs potentially injured when childrenare exposed to environmental toxicants, it is thecentral nervous system that is most vulnerable. Childrendevelop the brain that will serve them for therest of their lives during the first 6 years of life. Consequently,exposure to environmental neurotoxicantsduring this period can produce permanent neurodevelopmentalsequelae. Whereas the adult brain has anatural “barrier” to prevent many dangerous substancesfrom entering the brain (so-called blood brain barrier),this barrier is underdeveloped in children resulting ingreater entry of drugs and neurotoxicants. This physiologicdifference between children and adults explainswhy children who are exposed to lead or mercury developovert symptoms of permanent brain injury, atlower degrees of exposure than adults. According toestimates, as many as 17% of American children havea neurodevelopmental disorder and for autism and attentiondeficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) there isevidence that the incidence has risen more than 10 foldin the last few decades. The progressive pollution of ourplanet indicates that the protection of children againstenvironmental toxins is a major challenge to modernsociety.“When people are afraid of something new, they fallback on superstition, old hatreds and unfoundedbeliefs - some change historical facts”We will also examine the issues of nuclear energy, theafter effects of Chornobyl on the Ukrainian and formerSoviet Union society and the importance of continuoustransparency of scientific findings in order to resolve ormoderate some of the forthcoming issues of development.For the past 19 years we have dedicated a segmentof our Conference to the ramifications of this manmadedisaster. As with natural disasters the survivors mourntheir losses as they clean up their environment. Theirminds are preoccupied with images of death and destructionand some may exhibit what is known in psychiatryas “survivor’s guilt,” condemning themselves forhaving lived while others perished. Others develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The impact of manmade disasters is much wider. Theanxiety of individuals and societies following Chornobyllasted for many years. Even to this day people considerthemselves contaminated with radiation and fearcontinued birth defects. Humans are programmed tomourn their losses and changes in life and mourningallows us to accept that loss or a change has occurred.Without mourning a traumatized society has a tendencyto remain fearful, helpless and victimized, which consequentlycomplicates the “survivors” guilt, PTSD and preventsthem from seeking change in their society.<strong>World</strong> <strong>Information</strong> <strong>Transfer</strong><strong>World</strong> Ecology ReportSummer-Fall 20103
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