Earth to Paris

Obviously thanks to this blog, I had the privilege to be invited to a conference, "Earth to Paris", organised by the UN (and many other sponsors - read more about it here), which took place at the Pertit Palais in Paris, December 7.  First some views of the beautiful building (see previous posts). The security control on arrival was of course important. I left when it started to get dark, after a full day.

The audience varied in size according to who was speaking. There were some standing ovations.

Some examples of speakers:

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, Cathy Calvin, President & CEO of the UN Foundation, Tom Steyer, swimmer and Founder of Mission Blue, Jerry Brown, Governor of California…

… Sylvia Earle, Founder of Mission Blue, Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace (and a lot more), Tim Wirth, ex-Senator and ex-CEO of the UN Foundation, Gro Brundtland, ex-Prime Minister (Norway), UN Special Envoy and one of the “Elders”, Joel Sartore, National Geographic photographer…

… Runa Khan, Founder of Friendship Bangladesh, Yann Arthus Bertrand, filmmaker, Carter Roberts, President & CEO of WWF…

… Adrian Grenier, actor, Bill McKibben, Co-founder of 350.org, Emma Ruby Sachs, dep. Director of Avaaz, Nicolas Hulot, President of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation (and a lot more)…

… Alec Baldwin, actor, Christina Coc, Mayan Leader and winner of the UN Equator Prize in 2015, Bianca Juti, talking about the “Angry Birds”, Ban KI-moon, UN Secretary General, interviewed by a young Yugratna Srivastava…

… Tony Lake, Executive Director UNICEF, Angélique Kidjo, singer and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Tatiana Kondo, a young Climate Mapper, John Kerry, US Secretary of State. These are only examples of a long and interesting list. 

Here is a video prepared for the conference, text read by Morgan Freeman.