Ban Ki-moon

Climate change poses the biggest existential threat to humanity. As world leaders prepare to renew their pledge to combat the crisis amid increasingly frequent natural hazards and the raging pandemic, one measure that so far remains grossly under-tapped is the transformative role that education can play in mitigating climate change.

Wars are lasting longer and refugees are finding it harder to return home – with the length of displacement in some cases stretching across generations. Contrary to prevailing impressions, the vast majority of refugees are not in rich countries; 86 percent are in the developing world. And the poorer countries hosting refugees do not receive nearly enough help.

This is not a crisis of numbers; it is a crisis of solidarity. Almost 90 percent of the world's refugees are hosted in developing countries. Eight countries host more than half the world's refugees. Just ten countries provide 75 percent of the UN's budget to ease and resolve their plight.

The Agenda for Humanity provides key actions and strategic shifts which the world requires to reduce humanitarian needs and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Violent extremism is a direct assault on the United Nations Charter and a grave threat to international peace and security.

We will not get there overnight. The climate change conference in Paris is not the end point. It must mark the floor, not the ceiling of our ambition. It must be the turning point towards a low-emission, climate-resilient future.

Long before I beca-me Secretary-General, the United Nations occupied a special place in my life. I was six years old when the Korean