US Mission Geneva

Remarks at the Climate and Clean Air Coalition To Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Initiative Remarks Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Benjamin Franklin Room Washington, DC February 16, 2012   SECRETARY CLINTON:Well, welcome to the State Department, to the Benjamin Franklin Room. Benjamin Franklin was not only our first diplomat, but our first great scientist. [...]

Satellite observations accumulated over a seven-year period show that the volume of Earth’s land ice mass decreased by 4.3 trillion tons (more than 4,150 cubic kilometers) and increased global sea level by 12 millimeters. That’s enough ice to cover the entire United States to a half-meter depth.

Career opportunities are growing in the emerging “green economy,” and women need to take notice, according to Sara Manzano-Díaz, director of the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor.

“A core part of my global development strategy is harnessing the creativity and innovation of all sectors of our society to make progress that none of us can achieve alone,” President Obama said in the fact sheet. The president launched his global development policy in fall 2010.

Agricultural biotechnology continues to grow around the world at unprecedented rates, with 8 percent more biotech hectares planted in 2011 than in 2010, according to a major international research group.

51 embassies and international institutes joined with Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and State Department Under Secretary Patrick Kennedy to pledge to make their buildings and operations more environmentally sustainable.

As Rio+20, the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit, approaches in June, we have a chance to learn lessons, build partnerships and put in place innovative strategies that can reshape the economic and environmental future of our entire planet. It is the rarest of opportunities to truly change the world, and make a difference that will benefit billions of people.

More than 400 global policymakers, development chiefs and technology leaders have gathered in California for a three-day conference to discuss using connection technologies, like the Web and mobile phones, to advance sustainable development in the fields of health, the environment, agriculture and economic growth.

“This project is important not only because it offers a tangible solution to a mounting problem, but it gives hope and a sense of achievement to a community that is often overlooked because of its rural location and size.”