| Former President Jagdeo calls for renewed global resolve on climate change ...’We must not give up the struggle’ |  |  |  |
| Written by |
| Friday, 04 October 2013 23:38 |
FORMER President H.E. Bharrat Jagdeo returned to Guyana earlier this week after completing a series of meetings in the United States, in connection with his global roles on climate change and economic development.  Former President Bharrat Jagdeo On Monday, the global High Level Advisory Committee to the Climate Justice Dialogue - which includes former President Jagdeo, other former presidents and leaders from the fields of politics, science, business, civil society and academia - issued a Declaration on Climate Justice. The declaration calls on world leaders to take bold action on climate change and create a future that is fair for all. The declaration is an initiative of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice and the World Resources Institute (WRI). “The time for radical leadership on climate change is now. With 2015 set as the deadline for both a new climate agreement and the post-2015 development agenda, we are at the point in human development where we need to act to protect”, said Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and the President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice. Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the WRI, said, “The task is to ensure that the transition to a low-carbon climate resilient world looks out for the interests of all people.” On Wednesday, former President Jagdeo chaired the Commonwealth Expert Group on Climate Finance – a group established by the Commonwealth Secretary General to advise Commonwealth Heads of Government on ways to improve access to climate finance for some of the world’s most vulnerable countries, especially small island states and lesser developed countries in Africa. This group will report to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka in November, when the Heads of Government of a third of the world’s population will gather for their biennial meeting. On Friday, Former President Jagdeo led a meeting of the Assembly of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), in his role as President of the Assembly. Representatives from the 19 member states of GGGI elected new members to the GGGI Council, and discussed GGGI’s strategy. The Chair of the GGGI Council, former Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen, updated members on the work that GGGI is carrying out across the world to promote green growth in Africa, Asia and Latin America – where GGGI aims to support a transformative shift in economic development opportunities for the people of countries such as Ethiopia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Kiribati, all of whom are seeking to draw on global best practice for low carbon development and green growth. Former President Jagdeo was a founding Board Member of GGGI, and became President of the Assembly after it became the world’s newest international organisation in October 2012. The former president also participated in a series of bilateral meetings to advance the global climate change and green growth agenda. Speaking at the end of the week, the former president said, “We must not give up on the struggle to show the world that it is possible to create new models of development, where climate change can be confronted at the same time as generating prosperity and well-being for all the world’s people. And we must be resolute in making sure that everyone understands that the solutions will come from the peoples and countries of today’s developing world. Some people say that the problem is too hard to solve, and they retreat in the face of setbacks. But such defeatism is of no use to the hundreds of millions of poor people who are already suffering. This week, we heard with even more certainty than before, that the scientific evidence on climate change is overwhelming. World leaders, business-people and all those with influence or power need to step up to the challenge, and accept that they have a responsibility to act.”
|