WION Global Summit: Climate change is changing our economy, says Greenland's first female Prime Minister

Greenland's first female prime Minister Aleqa Hammond on Thursday expressed concerns over climate change at WION Global Summit 2020 and underlined its impact on the country's economy.

For anyone following news should know climate change is happening big time. The ice cap is melting all year round, the temp is rising in Greenland, a max of 20 degrees that was unheard before. This is a serious matter," Hammond said while speaking at the second session of the annual media conclave.

"It is changing our economy, our perspective of how the world is working," Hammond added.

Live:WION's Global Summit — India has arrived. It is no longer the old, reticent India anymore, says Ram Madhav

Add WION as a Preferred Source

WION Global Summit is a platform for global leaders to come together at a single platform and have a dialogue on a common global agenda.

Along with Aleqa Hammond, Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate activist and James Terry, Professor of Geosciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, Zayed University, Dubai also participated in the discussion on climate change.

"Those directly related to farming are suffering. We will only be affected by the prices, but of course, you have the money to buy it. Climate crisis affects different people in different ways. Fires and floods in California, Jakarta, " Nakate said.

"If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for your conscience," she added.

"The islands in the South Pacific, are facing sea-level rise, changing ocean temperature, stress on groundwater, the stress of available land, and available resources are limited. There are two kinds of actions that can be taken, mitigation and adaptation. Some nations can't do much in terms of mitigation but can adapt," James Terry said.

Stressing on need the of effective solutions, Hammond said, "we need to bring a change in our policies, how we raise our children. The biggest change is required at home and it needs to be taken seriously."

"Investments in renewable energy is costly but it is required," she also said.

In this year's edition, the list of speakers include former Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe; Her Excellency Dr Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, the first Female President of Latvia and former president of Club de Madrid, Aleqa Hammond; The first female Prime Minister of Greenland and Her Excellency Mariya Didi; the Honourable Minister of Defence of the Republic of Maldives.

During the one-day event, the guests will host agenda-driven discussions on topics of global importance including, climate change, global governance, economic slowdown, and global crisis.