Remarks by His Majesty The King at the United Nations Office Nairobi, Kenya

Director General, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I can assure you that I have had a wonderfully warm welcome coming here. I could not get over how many staff were waiting outside and I fear it may have caused a total disruption to the smooth running of this remarkable organisation, particularly if I’ve ruined their lunch break!

I cannot tell you how enormously touched I am that you have invited me to be with you today at the centre of global efforts to protect our planet for future generations. As you might know, I have long cared deeply about this increasingly urgent mission, and I am moved by your very warm welcome and kind words.

It matters greatly, I think, that for over fifty years, the United Nations' environmental leadership has been based here in the heart of Africa – the only U.N. Headquarters in the Commonwealth. I have seen at first hand the devastating effects of climate change and biodiversity loss across the Commonwealth: from rising sea levels that threaten small island states and coastal communities, to droughts that have left millions at risk of famine. Wildfires have left countless acres bereft of the healthy forests that sustain our planet and our livelihoods, and cyclones and floods continue to devastate both farms and cities. It is particularly heart-breaking to know that in the Horn of Africa alone, tens of millions of people face severe hunger and drought.

As I am sure the many experts in this room know only too well, left unchecked, global warming, biodiversity loss and climate change are challenges which threaten us all and can only be met by the whole of society working together in the spirit of action, partnership and commitment. Nowhere is this spirit better embodied than here, in all of you. Your tireless efforts to find common ground have given birth to the treaties on which global environmental action now depends. Thanks to you, and particularly to the U.N. Environment Programme and U.N. Habitat, plastics are being removed from our oceans and the hole in the ozone layer is shrinking. Similarly, countless U.N. agencies from within the U.N. family are working together to support those who suffer from food and water insecurity. I hope that the Global Food Security Summit that the United Kingdom will host, will contribute to these efforts to build more climate resilient and sustainable food systems.

I really am sorry that I am unlikely to get to meet quite all of the thousands of people who work here, from across all the U.N.'s agencies. But I particularly wanted to visit your Headquarters to thank and encourage you all. Put simply, as a result of your efforts, millions of the most vulnerable people in the world have a greater measure of security, safety and support.

As we heard at the Africa Climate Summit, action is needed desperately to conserve and save our natural world, to after all, there are 100’s of millions of hectares of depleted land all across the world, with 700 million alone in Africa, that could be brought back to life in order to help those countries and communities on the front line of this crisis. Kenya, through its leadership and the ingenuity of its youth, will play a vital role – but only through continued cooperation will we succeed.

As we look ahead to COP twenty-eight in another months time, we must remember what President Ruto said at the Africa Climate Summit – “we go far when we go together”.

Tufaulu pamoja

[Let’s succeed together]

na asanteni sana

[thank you all]

for being here today.