H.I.R.H. Archduke Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen
Archduke of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, Royal Prince of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, Vice President of the Association for the Furtherance of Peace
Speaker Bio
Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen is a direct descendent of Maria Theresa – Empress of Austria, Catherine the Great – Empress of Russia, and of Queen Victoria of Great Britain.
Today he is on the Board of several companies and organizations. Together with his wife, he is a trustee of the Association for Furtherance Peace in Vienna Austria with peace-related activities in more than 70 countries.
He has officially bestowed the rank of Prince Grand Master of the Sovereign Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta on the 2nd May 2015, in Malta.
Speech
Good evening. Hello. Global crisis. And time for the truth. The truth is very important, and that’s what we need to do. We need to look at what are really the issues. We need to look at them honestly. We need to approach them with our conviction, with our values to do the best for ourselves, for the environment. And environment is everything: it's all the living things, all the animals. And we must do it with respect.
If we make the respect as our foundation for our values, we will treat our nature, our environment as it should be treated. We will not pollute. Why? Because that is disrespectful. So if we are respectful, we will not pollute. And if we do things as best as possible, in other words, to give it value and do it with our hearts, so that we will appreciate all the things that we are doing, then we set the basis to combat the crisis. And it is very important to understand what we are confronted with, not simply accepting what others are telling us.
I, for myself, will give you, [from] me, a very important idea to this crisis. We are talking about CO2 emissions. It is in the forefront of all the discussions, but unfortunately, in my opinion, CO2 is a distraction.
We need to focus on pollution. Because pollution is nothing other than waste - wasting our important resources that we have. So, if we avoid pollution, we treat the environment [with] respect from two points of view: one, we will use less resources because we are wasting less; and on both sides - on a positive and in the prevention - we will improve the environment in which we are living in.
And the most important message that I have for everybody is one to understand that nature doesn't need us. We need nature. And if we do not take care of our nature, we will not have a place where our future generations can live in happiness and enjoy.
Thank you.