Thủ tướng Tshering Tobgay mặc "gho" - trang phục truyền thống của Bhutan trong buổi nói chuyện.

Xuất hiện trong TED - chương trình phi lợi nhuận với những câu chuyện truyền cảm hứng từ những con người thành công trên toàn thế giới, Thủ tướng Bhutan Tshering Tobgay đã có những chia sẻ cảm động về vấn đề biến đổi khí hậu ở quốc gia mình. Bhutan nằm trên dãy Himalaya vùng Nam Á, được bao trọn xung quanh bởi núi rừng trùng điệp. Nơi đây còn nghèo khó, lạc hậu nhưng được cả thế giới ngưỡng mộ bởi những con người hiền lành, sống chan hòa với thiên nhiên và hạnh phúc nhất thế giới. 

Bhutan là quốc gia không quan tâm đến GDP (tổng sản phẩm quốc nội) mà coi trọng GNH - Gross National Happiness (tổng hạnh phúc quốc gia), xem bảo vệ thiên nhiên là cách để thịnh vượng dài lâu.

Với lối nói chuyện thân thiện, hài hước nhưng sâu sắc, Thủ tướng đã cho cả thế giới thấy người dân Bhutan, dù đang nỗ lực bảo vệ thiên nhiên mạnh mẽ bậc nhất thế giới nhưng lại đang gánh chịu hậu quả biến đổi khí hậu nặng nề từ những quốc gia khác gây ra. Tuy nhiên, ông vẫn lạc quan, hy vọng thế giới cùng bắt tay, hành động để đẩy lùi hiện tượng ấm lên toàn cầu, cùng bảo vệ trái đất. Bài phát biểu cảm động của ông đã thu hút hơn một triệu lượt xem trên website của TED (ted.com).

So as I was saying, 72 percent of our country is under forest cover, and all that forest is pristine. That's why we are one of the few remaining global biodiversity hotspots in the world, and that's why we are a carbon-neutral country. In a world that is threatened with climate change, we are a carbon-neutral country.

Turns out, it's a big deal. Of the 200-odd countries in the world today, it looks like we are the only one that's carbon-neutral. Actually, that's not quite accurate. Bhutan is not carbon-neutral. Bhutan is carbon negative. Our entire country generates 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide, but our forests, they sequester more than three times that amount, so we are a net carbon sink for more than four million tons of carbon dioxide each year. But that's not all.

We export most of the renewable electricity we generate from our fast-flowing rivers. So today, the clean energy that we export offsets about six million tons of carbon dioxide in our neighborhood. By 2020, we'll be exporting enough electricity to offset 17 million tons of carbon dioxide. And if we were to harness even half our hydropower potential, and that's exactly what we are working at, the clean, green energy that we export would offset something like 50 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. That is more CO2 than what the entire city of New York generates in one year.

So inside our country, we are a net carbon sink. Outside, we are offsetting carbon. And this is important stuff. You see, the world is getting warmer, and climate change is a reality. Climate change is affecting my country. Our glaciers are melting, causing flash floods and landslides, which in turn are causing disaster and widespread destruction in our country. I was at that lake recently. It's stunning. That's how it looked 10 years ago, and that's how it looked 20 years ago. Just 20 years ago, that lake didn't exist. It was a solid glacier. A few years ago, a similar lake breached its dams and wreaked havoc in the valleys below. That destruction was caused by one glacial lake. We have 2,700 of them to contend with. The point is this: my country and my people have done nothing to contribute to global warming, but we are already bearing thebrunt of its consequences. And for a small, poor country, one that islandlocked and mountainous, it is very difficult. But we are not going tosit on our hands doing nothing. We will fight climate change. That's why we have promised to remain carbon-neutral.

We first made this promise in 2009 during COP 15 in Copenhagen, but nobody noticed. Governments were so busy arguing with one another and blaming each other for causing climate change, that when a small country raised our hands and announced, "We promise to remain carbon-neutral for all time", nobody heard us. Nobody cared.

Last December in Paris, at COP 21, we reiterated our promise to remain carbon-neutral for all time to come. This time, we were heard. We were noticed, and everybody cared. What was different in Paris was that governments came round together to accept the realities of climate change, and were willing to come together and act together and work together. All countries, from the very small to the very large, committed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change says that if these so-called intended commitments are kept, we'd be closer to containing global warming by two degrees Celsius.

By the way, I've requested the TED organizers here to turn up the heat in here by two degrees, so if some of you are feeling warmer than usual, you know who to blame.

It's crucial that all of us keep our commitments. As far as Bhutan is concerned, we will keep our promise to remain carbon-neutral. 

Vocabulary:

Y Vân (theo TED)