Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday urged leaders from around the world to agree to strong measures to address climate change. The speech comes just six weeks before a United Nations conference that diplomats expect to yield the most significant international agreement on the issue ever reached.

In his address, Kerry joined a chorus of climate change advocates who paint the negotiations as an opportunity to transition the world to a low-carbon economy in which investment dollars flow into renewable energy sources and other technology to stem global warming.

We need every country on the same page, all pushing for an ambitious, durable, and inclusive agreement that will finally put us on the path towards a global clean-energy future. Failure is not an option.

“We need every country on the same page, all pushing for an ambitious, durable, and inclusive agreement that will finally put us on the path towards a global clean-energy future,” Kerry said in a speech in Milan. “Failure is not an option.”

Kerry dismissed the notion that climate change can be addressed by future generations, arguing that global security hangs in the balance of the negotiations. Specifically, he pointed the refugee crisis in Syria as a situation that has been exacerbated by climate change. In the future, drought and sea-level rise will have even more dramatic impacts barring action, Kerry said.