As we posted earlier, From 2-6 August 2010, delegates were meeting in Bonn, Germany, for the eleventh session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC AWG-LCA 11) and the thirteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 13). AWG-LCA 11 will consider the Chair’s revised text circulated in July.

As part of above meeting, at the opening session, the new Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, headquarterd in Bonn, made her maiden speech to the organization.

We have here her own words, the Press release from the Bonn office and the Press release of the UN headquarters in New York.

Our argument is that there is no perfect correlation between these three documents, and we will argue that seemingly the process to undermine the new Executive Secretary has already started. It was such activities, directed seemingly from the New York headquarters that sunk Yvo de Boer, and might be intended to sink now also Christiana Figueres.

What we read in Christiana’s statement is the recognition that the reality is such that the dream-world of the UN revolving around Kyoto was finished and Copenhagen was the start of a new era of attempts to find more realistic ways.

What the two Press releases show is an adherence to the dead world of Kyoto which translates into an adherence to continuation of the 11th – going to 12th year old stagnation. By disallowing interested press from participating at these press conferences, this disinformation becomes norm.

————————————–

The thirteenth session of the AWG-KP and the eleventh session of the AWG-LCA
Bonn, 2 August 2010

Opening speech by Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Just over 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus set sail for uncharted waters, determined to
change the map of the world.  While he was a man of his times with all the faults of his times, he
certainly far exceeded his own expectations.

Like Columbus, we are people of our times with all the constraints of our times and yet we,
too, stand on the threshold of a new world.  Whether we succumb to the storms of climate change or
work together to reach the far shore is up to us to decide.

What is at stake here is none other than the long-term, sustainable future of humanity. Thus
as individuals, as governments, as a global community, we must all exceed our own expectations,
simply because nothing less will do.

We know the milestones science has set.  We know by when and by how much greenhouse
gas emissions must drop to have a chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, devastating
for the most vulnerable and the poorest around the world.

Time is not on our side.  Decisions need to be taken, perhaps in an incremental manner,
but most certainly with firm steps and unwavering resolve.  We must progress in the full knowledge that we
cannot cross the ocean on a single gust of wind. But, if we don’t raise the sails higher now, we may
never discover a safer, more stable world.

Friends, for 15 years, I worked with you in our shared task of delivering the solutions that governments must offer humanity.

Now, as your Executive Secretary, it is my honour to work for you.  It is my priority to
ensure that the secretariat continues to support the negotiations and enhance the implementation of your
decisions with its unflagging commitment, professionalism and integrity.

I approach this task with a deep sense of humility, honouring the achievements of these
negotiations, but also acutely aware of the rapidly rising scale and urgency of what must still be done.

Governments alone can not solve climate change, but only governments, working together, can help the
world pilot the course most effectively.

Like Columbus, citizens, societies and businesses everywhere today need the incentives and the resources
to set off confidently into uncharted waters.  It is the prime task of governments to set the sails ever higher,
to help humanity capture the powerful winds of change that are waiting to be released.

Transformations like this are made by grasping the politically possible at every step, by
turning countless, diverse and sometimes conflicting interests to a common purpose.

The governments of the world, represented by you here today, have been steadily building
that common ground since the UNFCCC began; in Rio, Kyoto, Marrakesh, Bali, and yes, Copenhagen.
And this year, in Cancun, the climate negotiations can further the cause of multilateralism.

In Cancun, my friends, you have both the responsibility and the opportunity to take the next essential step:
to turn the politically possible into the politically irreversible.

Five hundred years after Columbus sailed, another man from a very different world has
triumphed over his own long and difficult journey.

Nelson Mandela, very much a man of our times, tells us: “There is no passion to be found
playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.  We must use time
wisely, and forever realise that the time is always ripe to do right.”

Friends, the time is ripe. I trust you will do right.

Thank you.

========================================================================

AND HER PRESS OFFICER – THE REPRESENTATIVE OF HEADQUARTER UN DPI – SAID:

UNITED NATIONS
NATIONS UNIES

FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE – Secretariat
CONVENTION – CADRE SUR LES CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES  – Secretariat

PRESS RELEASE

UNFCCC Executive Secretary: Governments meeting in Bonn have responsibility to take next essential step in fight against climate change

(Bonn, 2 August 2010)  The third round of UN climate change negotiations this year kicked off
on Monday with representatives from 178 governments meeting in Bonn, Germany. The Bonn UN
Climate Change Conference (2 to 6 August) is designed to prepare the outcomes of the UN
Climate Change Conference in Cancun in November and December.

Governments have a responsibility this year to take the next essential step in the battle
against climate change, said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres. How
governments achieve the next essential step is up to them. But it is politically possible. In Cancun,
the job of governments is to turn the politically possible into the politically irreversible, she said.

The government delegates will discuss the second iteration of the text to facilitate
negotiations under the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the
Convention (AWG-LCA). The negotiating group is tasked to deliver a long-term global solution to
the climate challenge.

The Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto
Protocol (AWG-KP) is also meeting in Bonn in parallel to the AWG-LCA. The focus of this group is
on emissions reduction commitments for the 37 industrialised countries that have ratified the
Kyoto Protocol for the period beyond 2012.

The UN’s top climate change official Christiana Figueres pointed to the opportunity to
capture the promises, pledges and progress that governments have already made, in accountable
and binding ways. According to Ms. Figueres, governments now need to resolve what to do with
their public pledges to cut emissions. All industrialised countries have made public pledges to cut
emissions by 2020 and 38 developing countries have submitted plans to limit their emissions
growth.

“This needs to be captured in internationally agreed form,” the UN’s top climate change official said:
“More stringent actions to reduce emissions cannot be much longer postponed and industrial nations must lead,” she added.

{NO! WE DID NOT FIND THIS IN HER TEXT – THIS IS FALSE FEED TO THE PRESS! SHE AVOIDED SAYING WHAT INDUSTRIAL NATIONS OUGHT TO DO!}

Ms. Figueres pointed out that governments agree to a comprehensive set of  ways and means to allow developing countries to take concrete climate action. SHE DID NOT SAY THIS EITHER!!

Mailing Address: CLIMATE CHANGE SECRETARIAT (UNFCCC), P.O. Box 260 124,  D-53153 Bonn, Germany
Office Location: Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8,  D-53175 Bonn, Germany
Media Information Office: (49-228) 815-1005  Fax: (49-228) 815-1999
Email:  press at unfccc.int  Web: http://unfccc.int
UNFCCC/CCNUCC

This includes adapting to climate change, limiting emissions growth; providing adequate
finance; boosting the use of clean technology; promoting sustainable forestry; and building up
the skills and capacity to do all this.

The new UNFCCC Executive Secretary also noted the urgent need for industrialised
nations to turn their pledges of funding into reality. Last year, these countries promised 30 billion
dollars in fast-track finance for developing country adaptation and mitigation efforts through
2012.

i?Developing nations see the allocation of this money as a critical signal that industrialised
nations are committed to progress in the broader negotiations,i? Christiana Figueres said.

Industrialised countries further pledged to find ways and means to raise 100 billion dollars
a year, by 2020.

i?Governments need to achieve clarity on how institutional arrangements, particularly
financial arrangements, lock into other issues,i? said Christiana Figueres. i?For example, how could
institutional arrangements for financing be linked most effectively to an operational technology
mechanism or action on adaptation?,i? she said.

Ms. Figueres said that countries wanted to see that what they agree with each other is
measured, reported and verified in a transparent and accountable way.

“It’s called  in the negotiations and it simply means that countries want to be confident that what they see is what they get,” she said. “Progress here will be a gauge that countries are moving towards common ground,” she said.

Finally, Christiana Figures pointed to the fact that governments agree that pledges need
to be captured in a binding manner but they need to decide how to do it. {YES  – SHE DID SAY THAT}

“Governments need to deliver this combination of accountability and binding action so
that civil society and business can be confident that clean, green strategies will be rewarded
globally, as well as locally,” the UNFCCC Executive Secretary said.

The Bonn gathering is being attended by around 3100 participants, including government
delegates, representatives from business and industry, environmental organisations and research
institutions.

The next UNFCCC negotiating session is scheduled to take place from 4 to 9 October in
Tianjin, China, before the UN Climate Change Conference 29 November to 10 December in
Cancun.

About the UNFCCC:

With 194 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto
Protocol has been ratified by 190 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 States,
consisting of highly industrialized countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to
a market economy, have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments. The
ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

AGAIN – HOW DOES A 192-Member UN COME UP WITH 194 PARTIES – GRANTED THE EU IS NUMBER THE FICTION OF A NUMBER 193?

=====================

AND EVEN MORE DIRECTLY – From the UN Daily NEWS of August 2, 2010 – we have:

NEW UN CLIMATE CHANGE CHIEF RALLIES GOVERNMENTS TO STEP UP ACTION.

With the future of humanity at stake, governments must continue
building common ground to further progress on climate change, the new
United Nations chief on the issue said in the latest round of
international negotiations which kicked off in Bonn today.

“Whether we succumb to the storms of climate change or work together
to reach the far shore is up to us to decide,” Christiana Figueres,
Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), said, invoking the journey made by Christopher Columbus more
than five centuries ago. {OK – NOT EXACT QUOTE BUT THE SPIRIT IS THERE!}

This was her first address to UN climate change talks as head of the
UNFCCC since taking over from Yvo de Boer last month.

“As individuals, as governments, as a global community, we must all
exceed our own expectations, simply because nothing less will do,” Ms.
Figueres told delegates.

Science, she said, has shown when and by how much greenhouse gas
emissions must drop to avert climate change’s worst impacts.

“Time is not on our side,” Ms. Figueres stated. “Decisions need to be
taken, perhaps in an incremental manner, but most certainly with firm
steps and unwavering resolve.”

The week-long talks under way in Bonn are the third round of UN
climate change negotiations so far this year, ahead of the next
conference of parties to the UNFCCC in Cancun in November.

At that gathering in the Mexican city, Ms. Figueres told delegates
today, “you have both the responsibility and the opportunity to take
the next essential step: to turn the politically possible into the
politically irreversible.”

Speaking to reporters, she said that governments can build on progress
made so far in five main areas.

Firstly, the public pledges made by all industrialized countries to
slash emissions by 2020 and the plans put forward by more than one
third of developing nations to limit their emissions growth must be
captured in an internationally-agreed form, she said.

Secondly, governments must forge ahead with efforts to agree on ways
to allow developing countries to take action in areas including
adapting to climate change, limiting emissions growth, providing
adequate finance and enhancing the use of clean energy.

In another key area, “industrialized nations can turn their pledges of
funding into reality,” she said.

Last year, these countries promised to provide $30 billion in
fast-track financing for developing countries to adapt and mitigate
climate change through 2012, with pledges having been made to raise
$100 billion annually by 2020.

“Developing nations see the allocation of this money as a critical
signal that industrialized nations are committed to progress in the
broader negotiations,” Ms. Figueres said.

Further, “countries want to see that what they agree with each other
is measured, reported and verified in a transparent and accountable
way,” she pointed out. “Countries want to be confident that what they
see is what they get.”

Finally, the UNFCCC chief said, while governments agree that pledges
must be captured in a binding manner, “they need to decide how to do
it.”

Governments, she added, “need to deliver this combination of
accountability and binding action so that civil society and business
can be confident that clean, green strategies will be rewarded
globally, as well as locally.”

{The above UN mantra is known – and most probably in some form came up in a Bonn Press Conference, but I could not locate the verbatim of a Bonn Press Conference and had no-one to ask – so all I can say is that I have nothing on this on the UNFCCC/News website,} It continues then with the informative ending:

More than 3,000 people – including government delegates and
representatives of the private sector, environmental groups and
research institutions – are attending the Bonn gathering this week.

The next round of talks is slated to take place in Tianjin, China, in
early October, weeks before the start of the Cancun conference.

Mexico will host U.N. talks in Cancun in November and hopes for the “maximum, not the minimum” outcome, Luis Alfonso de Alba, Mexico’s special representative for climate change, told Reuters

However, he admitted it could take “several years and several instruments” to put in place a legally binding document.

De Alba said there could be up to three treaties which legally bind countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions and support the countries most vulnerable to the effects of global warming.

“We are not just talking about one single legally binding instrument but a set of them,” he said on the sidelines of a U.N. climate meeting in Bonn.

“One instrument will cover (parties to the) Kyoto Protocol but it is also possible to have something for the U.S. and a third one for developing countries,” he said.

The European Union told Reuters on Tuesday it was open to considering the option of two treaties instead of one to overcome an impasse between developing and rich nations.

SUBSTANCE MATTERS

Mexico’s climate chief expressed frustration at slow progress during the first two days of talks this week, when delegates spent too much time on the negotiating process rather than the main issues.

“Groups have now picked up speed but they need to concentrate on the substance and identify the main issues so we can build a comprehensive package of decisions at Cancun,” he said.

It now seems unlikely that the Bonn talks will result in a new negotiating text by Friday due to proposals and amendments being added to the text rather than taken out.

The main sticking points are how and who should raise their emissions reduction pledges, financing, adaptation measures and tackling loopholes in the Kyoto Protocol which could undermine rich nations’ pledges.

“I am hoping by tomorrow that we get through the text and get familiar with the proposals but identifying the main issues we can concentrate on in China,” De Alba said, referring to the next round of talks in October.

“In China we have to find the middle ground — we cannot go line by line or paragraph by paragraph.”

The Cancun meeting could see agreement on moving to a second commitment period of the protocol, but it would depend on developed countries taking the lead, De Alba said.

Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy & International Affairs David Sandalow.

TOPIC:              Upcoming Clean Energy Ministerial July 19-20^th

This is written on the basis of a US Department of State Press Conference  – Thursday, July 15, 2010.

————

This article follows our posting of July 14, 2010:

The Major 17 Economies were joined by Bangladesh, Denmark, Barbados, Ethiopia, Singapore and the UAE at the recent Rome meeting – to be followed by a July 19-20, 2010 Washington DC Meeting on Clean Energy – all this to build a program for Cancun.  Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on July 14th, 2010 by Pincas Jawetz ( PJ at SustainabiliTank.com)

We said at the time that the July 19 – 20, 2010  Washington DC Ministerial meeting will be a sequel – now we are convonced that is actually a different kind of meeting and I do not think that its eyes will be towards Cancun.

———–

The Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, David Sandalow, gave a background briefing and answered questions on the web regarding the importance of the upcoming Washington DC – Clean Energy Ministerial meeting. He discussed Energy Secretary Chu’s hopes on what will be accomplished.

The following countries will be represented:  Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Norway, the Russian Federation, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, the U.A.E. and the U.K.

This list excludes Indonesia from the Major Economies Forum which are 16 + The EU and then at their Rome meeting of June 30 – July 1, 2010, added on Ministers from a variety of representative smaller economies: Bangladesh, Denmark, Barbados, Ethiopia, Singapore, UAE.

This list includes in addition to the EU also all The Scandinavian States: Denmark, Norway, Spain and Sweden. As well it includes Belgium and Spain. It does not include Bangladesh, Barbados, Ethiopia, Singapore which were part of the meeting of June 30 – July 1, 2010 but it does include from that meeting Denmark that was a participant because of its hosting the Copenhagen meeting, and the UAE that seemingly represents the oil exporting countries.

The Washington meeting includes also Belgium because by now they have become the half year Presidents of the EU for July 1 till  December 31, 2010, and it retains Spain that held this position during the first half of 2010. To top this there is also an actual EU delegation at the table besides the temporary Presidents. We assume that this delegation is there because Malta, Cyprus and other EU delegations are not there. Place was also found for all major four Scandinavian Countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden – surely nice people all of them.

I write all of this in order to say that some better way has to be found on how to treat the EU and the World, when the Obama Administration wants indeed to show that it is serious about climate change by inviting just the large emitters that total 80% of the global emissions, or, if intent to bring in also some small representation of the small countries, that do not have substantial emissions, but proportionately are going to bear a major part of the suffering, the Rome initiative of having present also Bangladesh, Barbados and Ethiopia would have been just fine – and the total figure would have been then 16 + 1 (the EU) + 3 (this for Bangladesh, Barbados, Ethiopia) and it obviously would have included as part of the 16 also Indonesia.

For more information, the link to the website is:   http://cleanenergyministerial.org/

——————-

At question time I asked from Mr. Sandalow why is Indonesia not at the meeting, and why was the symbolic, but important participation of the small number of really very small economies dropped?

The answer was that Indonesia said they are not coming because they participate at that time at a South  Asia meeting. The fact that the small economies were dropped is “because this is for the large energy markets – for 80% of the ENERGY MARKET  and not for the whole world.”  THE IDEA IS COME UP WITH ACTIONS TO PROMOTE CLEAN ENERGY, he said.

It would have been easier to accept that answer had the US also kept out the additional 6 EU States that were not among the original 16 + EU. We also would like to ask why UAE – though we think that they clearly are a better choice then Saudi Arabia – but still not exactly your ideal partner when you try to disengage from oil even though they do in effect – as holders of serious financial reserves – also participate in the financial benefits from looking for a cleaner future.

The above, because after Copenhagen we hoped for the involvement of business interests in order to create the working alternative to the Kyoto process – the interest of business in going green. For this to be effective one must have at the table mainly the real big emitters who indeed coincide with the biggest economies.

We thought that amounted to the maximum of 16 and – under EU conditions – just one more chair for the EU. Now there will be 23 chairs at the Washington table. The higher number decreasing the chance for success.

Monday, July 19, 2010 at 9am there will be an open press conference when the meeting starts.

UN ADVISORY GROUP SEEKS TO ENHANCE PUBLIC-PRIVATE LINKS TO BOOST ACCESS TO ENERGY.

The potential of new public-private partnerships to enhance energy access and efficiency topped today’s discussions by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s high-level advisory group on the nexus between energy and climate change.

“Governments alone will not be able to deal with the challenges,” said Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), at the latest meeting of the Energy and Climate Change Advisory Group.

“We need a commitment from all sectors of society, including the private sector, academia and civil society, as well as from international organizations and NGOs [non-governmental organizations],” he added.

The meeting in Mexico City was hosted by Carlos Slim Helú, Mexican businessman and one the world’s wealthiest people, who is also a member of the Group, set up by Mr. Ban last year and comprising 20 business leaders, academics and representatives of the UN and civil society.

In April, the Group launched a report calling on nations to commit themselves to two complementary goals.

First, it urged universal access to modern energy services that are reliable, affordable, sustainable, and, if possible, from low-emissions sources by 2030.

It also underlined the need to slash global energy intensity, measured by the quantity of energy per unit of gross domestic product (GDP).

Currently, some 3 billion people worldwide rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating, resulting in adverse health effects if used in inadequately ventilated buildings, with 1.6 billion having no access to electricity.

“This is why we are looking at launching a worldwide campaign to ensure that access to modern energy services no longer represents a barrier to development,” Mr. Yumkella said. “A reliable, affordable energy supply is the key to economic growth and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs],” the eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.

Private companies, he pointed out, already have the technology needed to make global energy systems less dependent on fossil fuels, while many governments are offering financial incentives and support for this transition.

“What we need today is to forge strong public-private partnerships to tackle these goals,” the UNIDO chief, who chairs the Advisory Group, said.

Today’s meeting, co-hosted by Mexican Energy Minister Georgina Kessel Martínez, drew top UN officials and business executives, while representatives of Sharp and other corporations presented some of the latest renewable technologies.

In a related development, a new report launched today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) found that the United States and Europe have added more capacity to their electricity supplies from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, for the second consecutive year.

In 2009, renewables accounted for 60 per cent of newly-installed capacity in Europe and more than 50 per cent in the USA.

“The sustainable energy investment story of 2009 was one of resilience, frustration and determination,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

The sector was able to weather the global financial downturn, but faced setbacks given that last December’s UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, did not achieve the targets that had been hoped for, he noted.

“Yet there was determination on the part of many industry actors and governments, especially in rapidly developing economies, to transform the financial and economic crisis into an opportunity for greener growth,” the official said.

* * *

TODAY’S GLOBAL CRISES HIGHLIGHT NEED TO PROMOTE HUMAN SECURITY – BAN.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has emphasized the need to promote the concept of human security, noting that the challenges facing the world today threaten the lives of millions and undermine development efforts.

“Everyone has a right to enjoy freedom from fear…freedom from want…and freedom to live in dignity,” Mr. Ban said in a video message for a symposium on human security taking place in Tokyo.

“These mutually reinforcing aspirations are at the heart of human security and our mission to build a better world for all,” he stated.

More than ever, “we live in an interconnected world,” where crises transcend borders and threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of men, women and children, he noted.

“They increase human insecurity and undermine progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he added, referring to the targets world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015, ranging from ensuring quality education and a clean environment to reducing hunger and disease.

He said the symposium can help inform and advance discussions at the high-level summit he will be convening in New York in September at which world leaders will gather to push for further progress on the MDGs.

The landmark 2005 World Summit referred to the concept of human security, recognizing that “that all individuals, in particular vulnerable people, are entitled to freedom from fear and freedom from want, with an equal opportunity to enjoy all their rights and fully develop their human potential.”

In May, the General Assembly held its first formal debate on human security, during which Mr. Ban presented his report on the issue.

Addressing that meeting, he had stressed that “we must ensure that the gains of today are not lost to the crises of tomorrow,” calling for actions focusing on “people-centred, comprehensive, context-specific and preventive strategies at every level.”

Such an approach, the report pointed out, helps address both current and emerging threats, as well as their causes. The report also emphasized the need for strong and stable institutions to advance human security.

Calender of Events for Gold Standard Presentations in September 2010 for Mexico City and Chicago.

The Gold Standard was established for listing Premium Quality Carbon Credits.

The Gold Standard Foundation Newsletter Issue II 2010 is available at
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?GoldStandardFoundati/1f6ee2e1ce/3fc4f97dfb/fac3e1c798

Carbon Market Mexico & Central America.
A Green Power Conference Event.
Presenter: Ivan Hernandez
Date: September 8-9, 2010
Location: Mexico City
www2.greenpowerconferences.co.uk

Carbon TradeEx America
Presenter:TBD
Date: September 28-29, 2010
Location: Chicago, IL
www.carbontradeex.com

—————-

The Gold Standard Foundation
Avenue Louis Casai 79
CH-1216 Geneva-Cointrin
Switzerland

Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Spanish pronunciation: [mi?t?el ?at?e?let]; born September 29, 1951) is a moderate socialist politician who was President of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010—the first woman president in the country’s history.

She won the 2006 presidential election in a runoff, beating center-right US dollar billionaire businessman and former senator Sebastián Piñera with 53.5% of the vote.

She campaigned on a platform of continuing Chile’s free-market policies, while increasing social benefits to help reduce the gap between rich and poor, one of the largest in the world.

Bachelet, a pediatrician and epidemiologist with studies in military strategy, served as Health Minister and Defense Minister under President Ricardo Lagos.

Bachelet is the second child of archaeologist Ángela Jeria Gómez and Air Force Brigadier General Alberto Bachelet Martínez.

Facing growing food shortages, the government of Salvador Allende placed Bachelet’s father in charge of the Food Distribution Office. When General Augusto Pinochet came to power in the September 11, 1973 coup, General Bachelet, refusing exile, was detained at the Air War Academy under charges of treason. Following months of daily torture at Santiago’s Public Prison, on March 12, 1974, he suffered a cardiac arrest that resulted in his death. On January 10, 1975, Bachelet and her mother were detained at their apartment by two DINA agents, who blindfolded them and drove them to Villa Grimaldi, a notorious secret detention center in Santiago, where they were separated and submitted to interrogation and torture.^[13] Some days later they were transferred to Cuatro Álamos (“Four Poplars”) detention center, where they were held until the end of January. Later in 1975, thanks to sympathetic connections in the military, both were exiled to Australia, where Bachelet’s older brother Alberto had moved in 1969.

Her paternal great-great-grandfather, Louis-Joseph Bachelet Lapierre, was a French wine merchant from Chassagne-Montrachet who emigrated to Chile with his Parisian wife, Françoise Jeanne Beault, in 1860 hired as a wine-making expert by the Subercaseaux vineyards in southern Santiago.

In February 1979, Bachelet returned to Santiago, Chile from East Germany. Her medical school credits from the GDR were not transferred, forcing her to resume her studies from where she had left off before fleeing the country. ^{[citation needed]} She graduated as M.D. on January 7, 1983^. She wished to work in the public sector wherever attention was most needed, applying for a position as general practitioner; her petition was, however, rejected by the military government on “political grounds.” Instead, because of her academic performance and published papers, she earned a scholarship to specialize in pediatrics and public health at Roberto del Río Children’s Hospital (1983–1986). During this time she also worked at PIDEE (Protection of Children Injured by States of Emergency Foundation), a non-governmental organization helping children of the tortured and missing in Santiago and Chillán. She was head of the foundation’s Medical Department between 1986 and 1990. Some time after her second child with Dávalos, Francisca Valentina, was born in February 1984, she and her husband legally separated. She is a separated mother of three and describes herself as an agnostic.

In 1990, after democracy was restored in Chile, Bachelet worked for the Ministry of Health’s West Santiago Health Service and was a consultant for the Pan-American Health Organization, the World Health Organization and the German Corporation for Technical Cooperation.

Driven by an interest in civil-military relations, in 1996 Bachelet began studies in military strategy at the National Academy for Strategic and Policy Studies (Anepe) in Chile, obtaining first place in her class.^[2] Her student achievement earned her a presidential scholarship, permitting her to continue her studies in the United States at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C., completing a Continental Defense Course in 1998. That same year she returned to Chile to work for the Defense Ministry as Senior Assistant to the Defense Minister. She subsequently graduated from a Master’s program in military science at the Chilean Army‘s War Academy.

In 1996 Bachelet ran against future presidential adversary Joaquín Lavín for the mayorship of Las Condes, a wealthy Santiago suburb and a right-wing stronghold. Lavín won the 22-candidate election with nearly 78% of the vote, while she finished fourth at 2.35%. At the 1999 presidential primary of Coalition of Parties for Democracy (CPD), Chile’s governing coalition since 1990, she worked for Ricardo Lagos’s nomination, heading the Santiago electoral zone.

On March 11, 2000 Bachelet—virtually unknown at the time—was appointed Minister of Health by President Ricardo Lagos. She began an in-depth study of the public health-care system that led to the AUGE plan a few years later. She was also given the task of eliminating waiting lists in the saturated public hospital system within the first 100 days of Lagos’s government. She reduced waiting lists by 90%, but was unable to eliminate them completely and offered her resignation, which was promptly rejected by the President.  Controversially,  she allowed free distribution of the morning-after pill for victims of sexual abuse.

On January 7, 2002 Bachelet was appointed Defense Minister, becoming the first woman to hold this post in a Latin American country and one of the few in the world. While Minister of Defense she promoted reconciliatory gestures between the military and victims of the dictatorship, culminating in the historic 2003 declaration by General Juan Emilio Cheyre, head of the army, that “never again” would the military subvert democracy in Chile.  She also oversaw a reform of the military pension system and continued with the process of modernization of the Chilean armed forces with the purchasing of new military equipment, while engaging in international peace operations.

A moment which has been cited as key to Bachelet’s chances to the presidency came during a flood in northern Santiago where she, as Defense Minister, led a rescue operation on top of an amphibious tank, wearing a cloak and military cap.

In late 2004, following a surge of her popularity in opinion polls, Bachelet was established as the only CPD figure able to defeat Lavín, and she was asked to become the Socialists’ candidate for the presidency.

According to The Economist magazine the government of Bachelet opted to make social protection and the promotion of equality of opportunity her main priority. Since becoming President, her government built 3,500 crèches daycare for poorer children. It introduced a universal minimum state pension and extended free health care to cover many serious conditions.
A new housing policy aimed at abolishing the last remaining shanty-towns in Chile by 2010 featured grants to the poorest families. Some of them had to pay just US$400 for a house costing about US$20,000.

In October 2009 Ms Bachelet’s popularity peaked at 80 percent according to a public opinion poll by conservative polling institute Adimark GfK., and in March 2010 she showed an approval rating of 84%, and in terms of specific characteristics attributed to Chile’s president, ‘loved by Chileans’ reached a record 96%.

The Chilean Constitution does not allow a president to serve two consecutive terms, so Bachelet left office in March 2010.

Chile’s October 16, 2006 vote in the United Nations Security Council election—with Venezuela and Guatemala deadlocked in a bid for the two-year, non-permanent Latin American and Caribbean seat on the Security Council — developed into a major ideological issue in the country, and was seen as a test for Bachelet. The governing coalition was divided between the Socialists, who supported a vote for Venezuela, and the Christian Democrats, who strongly opposed it. The day before the vote the president announced (through her spokesman) that Chile would abstain, citing as reason a lack of regional consensus over a single candidate, ending months of speculation.

Continuing the coalition’s free-trade strategy, in August 2006 Bachelet promulgated a free trade agreement with the People’s Republic of China (signed under the previous administration of Ricardo Lagos), the first Chinese free-trade agreement with a Latin American nation; similar deals with Japan and India were promulgated in August 2007. In October 2006, Bachelet promulgated a multilateral trade deal with New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei, the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (P4),  also signed under Lagos’ presidency.  She also held free-trade talks with other countries, including Australia, Vietnam,  Turkey and Malaysia. Regionally, she signed bilateral free trade agreements with Panama, Peru and Colombia.

At the beginning of 2010 Chile became the OECD’s 31st member, and its first in South America. This acceptance for OECD membership marked international recognition of nearly two decades of democratic reform and sound economic policies; for the OECD, Chile’s membership was a major milestone in its mission to build a stronger, cleaner and fairer global economy

She speaks Spanish (her native language), English, German, Portuguese and French.

In 2009 Forbes magazine ranked her as the 22nd in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world (she was #25 in 2008, #27 in 2007, and #17 in 2006). In 2008, TIME magazine ranked her 15 on its list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Eleanor Clift wrote on politicsdaily.com on June 10, 2010 that Michelle Bachelet moved the Chilean Government from Macho – to – Maternal. She was clearly the best qualified person to establish and head the new UN institution that was baptized with the terrible name UNWOMEN. And you know what, letting into the UN building a highly qualified person may endanger the minions working there. That, is what doomed on me today, this because I also learned an additional fact about Bachellet’s Chile, and that is why I write this UPDATE.
 http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/10/…

The additional fact I learned today came from reading material that will appear in an Energy Management Magazine Published in India. The article is by – Ms. Jimena Bronfman, Vice Minister of Energy, Chile , and it deals with Chile moving into leadership position on energy issues – and you guessed right if you said that Dr. Bachelet started this. In effect the Ministry of Energy – which for Chile is a Ministry of Energy Efficiency – was set up at the end of her days in the Presidential Office. We are sure that this was not an easy task to fulfill – but we are sure that it will be one of her most important legacies. We know that Energy Efficiency is not a top priority of the G77 real on-going leadership and this, more then anything else, explains the diatribe we described in our original posting which we updated now.

The creation of the Ministry of Energy in February 1^st 2010 is an important milestone in this process. The law that is the basis for Chile’s current institutional framework also includes the creation of the Chilean Energy Efficiency Agency, a public private entity that will implement the public policies designed by the Energy Efficiency Division of the Ministry.

Energy Efficiency is one of the main goals of Chile’s national energy policy, families are changing their habits and industries, corporations and local governments are trying to reduce their energy consumption by adopting energy-efficient measures. This fostering environment was recently faced by the February 27^th earthquake and tsunami that devastated several regions of our country. We have taken this catastrophe as an opportunity and a challenge to rebuild our towns and cities using energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The Ministry of Energy is working with other ministries, such as the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education to include energy efficiency measures and non-conventional renewable energies in the reconstruction of health and education infrastructure and emergency housing. We are also developing a pilot project to rebuild a town with the leading best practices in sustainability and energy consumption, so it can be replicated in other parts of the region and world.

Energy Efficiency is key to Chile’s competitiveness and economic growth. According to studies carried out before the earthquake, energy efficiency measures could help reduce Chile’s energy demand by around 14% by 2020. This would have a positive financial impact in the reconstruction process, as public funds saved by reduction of energy consumption can be reallocated to other priorities of the rebuilding program.

Energy Efficiency will also help Chile, whose economy is based on exports, to reduce its carbon footprint and be competitive in a world that is increasingly carbon-conscious. Although Chile’s contribution to global greenhouse emissions is low compared to many other nations, our wines, copper, fruits, fish and wood products are sold in developed markets that will require sustainable production processes.

In order to achieve our goals we are currently developing the Energy Efficiency Strategy for 2020. At the moment a draft proposal is being reviewed by key actors from the private and the public sectors who will be involved in the actual implementation of the strategy. The main objective of this process is to promote a broad discussion of the specific proposals, introduce appropriate improvements and gain comprehensive support for the energy saving goals contemplated in the strategy.  The official version of the E3 will be published after completion of this discussion period, hopefully by the end of November 2010.

Other challenges for this year include the implementation of the rest of our institutional framework, which will be completed by the creation of the Chilean Energy Efficiency Agency, a public-private non-profit entity that will implement the Ministry’s public policies. It will be funded mainly through public funds but will include private sector representatives in its board. The focus of the Agency’s work will be guided by the E3 strategy; however, we shall also aim at developing other important projects such as education. We strongly believe that a crucial driver for change in these matters is highly-skilled human resources. Therefore, education in schools, undergraduate and post-graduate education is needed to introduce strong energy efficiency programs. Other important aspects of energy efficiency lie in smart-grid and net-metering programs.

Another main priority for 2010 is the development of energy efficiency labelling for cars, new houses and domestic appliances. Labelling is currently mandatory for refrigerators and light bulbs, and we aim to expand this initiative so consumers have all the information available to make the right decisions.

We also want to continue growing our international alliances and cooperation. We have already executed collaboration agreements with several countries and organizations worldwide, and we will work to strengthen and deepen those relationships. Energy Efficiency is a global effort that can be fostered by exchanging best practices that will benefit consumers, industries and countries all over the world.

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The China and Developing States, the full name of the G77 that purports speaking for 130 out of the 192 UN Member States, is a UN charade – simply, because there never was a common interest among all these various States Now, with China becoming at least a G2 with the United States, if not the straight Global Economic Super power, for her to use the leadership of this rag-tag bunch and push into leadership positions at the UN – Libya, Zimbabwe, Sudan etc. resulted in turning the whole UN into a laughable enterprise. Bravo to little Palau that walked out on this continuous obstructionist committee circuit that calls for time-out whenever the UN tries to reach some decision. We watched them at climate Change meetings where Saudi Arabia is their representative.

Perhaps there was once s difference between the industrialized European  – North American countries plus Japan, and the rest of the world – this when the UN was created and the decolonizing process was giving birth to many new UN Member States – in effect multiplying by three the total number of global independent States, but since then much has changed.

The Latin ABC, Mexico, Korea, Turkey, India, Indonesia, South Africa have all knocked successfully at the corporate doors of development and entered the G20. The OECD club includes most of these G20 plus most EU States and Israel that is a perpetual  G77 pariah. They have now real interests to defend and not much time for posturing – so we will see slowly a realignment also at the UN. OK, China and South Africa will not want to give up their positions as leaders of the 130. It keeps some of their diplomats in the circuit and the UN will continue the fiction, but how long hence that the AOSIS/SIDS will still play this game? When will they see that Palau was indeed a trailblazer? Will the lack of action on Climate Change by some of the major OECD members who effectively joined the Saudis in opposing real action on climate, push these States back into the G77 arms?

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THURSDAY, JULY 08, 2010
Chile Threatens to Split South Unity in World Body.
Thalif Deen
 http://ipsterraviva.net/UN/currentNew.as…

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 7 (IPS) – The Group of 77 (G77) has historically maintained a united front, vociferously protecting the economic interests of developing countries at the United Nations. But its longstanding solidarity is now being threatened by the continued presence of a single Latin American country which recently joined the ranks of a rich elitist group.

Chile, which was formally inducted last May into the 30-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), described as an exclusive club of industrial nations, has given no indications of leaving the G77, thereby triggering a sharp division of opinion among its 130 members. “Chile wants to have it both ways,” one G77 member told IPS, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It wants to have one foot in the OECD and another in the G77. But this is unacceptable to some of us.”

When Mexico and South Korea broke ranks with the developing world and joined the Paris-based OECD back in 1994 and 1996, respectively, both countries quit the G77, the largest single coalition of developing countries at the United Nations.

Chakravarti Raghavan, editor emeritus of the Geneva-based South-North Development Monitor published by the Third World Network, told IPS if Chile does not voluntarily quit the G77, the group must find a way around its longstanding convention of consensus decisions, and “politely but firmly throw Chile out”.

“This will be in line with the spirit and the intentions behind the formation of the Group of 77 and its functioning over all these years,” he added.

“It is probably about time that the G77 being an informal grouping expel Chile – on the simple ground that you can’t belong to two different groupings,” said Raghavan, who is considered a foremost authority on the G77, and who has written extensively about the Group since its inception in June 1964.

“It is my impression that Mexico, when it joined OECD, initially wanted to be in both camps, but was told it was not possible,” he added.

On North-South economic issues at the United Nations, the G77 and the OECD hold diametrically opposite views – most or all of the time.

The OECD is home to some of the world’s major economic powers, including the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan. Most of the emerging economic powers, including Brazil, India, China and South Africa, are longstanding members of the G77 and not members of the OECD.

But according to the OECD, it is planning to have discussions with Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa – all active members of the G77 – “with a view to possible membership”.

The G77 has lost four other members over the years: Cyprus and Malta (both in May 1994) and Romania (January 2007) when they joined the European Union.

A fourth country, Palau, a small island developing nation in the Pacific, withdrew from the G77 in June 2006, ostensibly for financial reasons.

Besides Chile, Mexico and South Korea, the OECD has also added three other non-G77 members into its ranks: Estonia, Slovenia and Israel.

Speaking off-the-record, a diplomat from a G77 country expressed a dissenting point of view when he told IPS: “There is nothing in the G77 rules or guidelines stating that an OECD member has to quit the G77.”

He said Chile is well within its rights to remain a member of the G77.

“And, while there may be a few in G77 who may not be pleased about Chile remaining in the G77, there are no serious moves afoot to push them out of the grouping,” he said. “Most of us, support Chile remaining in the G77. There will be strong resistance from a number of us if anyone tries to eject Chile from the G77.”

And as an after-thought, he added: “The OECD had made leaving the G77 a condition for Mexico’s entry into the OECD. However, when Chile was applying to the OECD, there was no such condition.”

Moreover, he said, Mexico stated that leaving the G77 should not be a condition for Chile’s entry.

Another G77 delegate told IPS that if Chile does not voluntarily leave the Group, as Mexico and South Korea did in previous years, a divided G77 may be forced to take a decision either way.

Meanwhile the former G8 – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia – has been expanded into the G20 to include seven developing nations (besides Australia, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey and the European Union).

The seven developing countries – Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa – are still members of the G77.

Chile has argued that G77 members that belong to the G20 should be considered in the same light as G77 members belonging to the OECD. But the G20 is not considered a formal body like the OECD, which is treaty-based and whose decisions are binding on all its members.

According to an OECD statement, the invitation to Chile to become the Organisation’s 31st member came at a time when the OECD is expanding its relations with the region.

As an OECD member, Chile will participate in all areas of the OECD’s work, from economic and financial policy to education, employment and social affairs. It will also join with other OECD countries to share experiences and best practices, setting new standards and developing new governance mechanisms for its economy and society more broadly.

The statement said that during two years of accession negotiations, Chile was reviewed by some 20 OECD committees with respect to OECD instruments, standards and benchmarks.

The invitation to take up membership confirms that Chile is taking appropriate steps to reform its economy including in the areas of corporate governance, anti-corruption, and environmental protection, the statement said.

On our website, we will continue to post on the COP 15 site for the ongoing preparations for the COP16.

Christiana Figueres takes the helm at UNFCCC. 8 July 2010 Christiana Figueres has taken up her post as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), effective from 8 July. Ms Figueres assumes leadership of the secretariat following extensive experience of high-level work across all areas of climate change, including as a member of the Costa Rican negotiating team since 1995. She becomes the fourth executive secretary of the UNFCCC, with its central mission to support cooperative action by governments to meet the challenge of climate change. Ms Figueres is also pictured here with two of her predecessors. To her right is Mr. Yvo de Boer of the Netherlands, whom she succeeds, and to her left is the first executive secretary, Mr. Michael Zammit Cutajar of Malta. Read biography The changing of the guard in Bonn.

COP 16 & CMP 6 – Launch of host country website. Cancún, Mexico The sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP) and the sixth Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) will be held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010, together with the thirty-third sessions of the subsidiary bodies and the fourteenth session of the AWG-KP and twelfth session of the AWG-LCA. The official host country website is now available online. Visit website

THE NEW WEBSITE:
 http://cc2010.mx/swb/

We have received the following Earth Conscious Magazine File from our UNEP – Caribbean Contacts and thought this is a worthwhile Magazine that will be liked by our readers. This posting is intended so that we transmit the link to the Magazine File.

I just watched Spain win in Johannesburg Ellis Park stadium, by 1:0 its game with Paraguay. This leaves Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay still standing,  and we dare now to make our own predictions about the  Semi-final and Final games.

July 4th and 5th there are no games.

Tuesday July 6th, in Cape Town’s new Green Point Stadium, Netherlands will play Uruguay and we predict a Netherlands win.

Wednesday July 7th in Durban’s new Moses Mabhida Stadium, Germany will play Spain and we predict a German win.

Saturday, July 10th in Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth – The Port Elizabeth Stadium – we predict a Spain – Uruguay game and a Spain win for the third place in the 2010 World Cup.

Sunday, July 11th in the new Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium near Soweto, in the iconic shape of the African calabash, there will be the final game of the 2010 World Cup.

We predict that the game will be between Germany and The Netherlands – and we predict The German team wins.

Above means that the final standing, we predict, will be: Germany, The Netherlands, Spain.
An unexpected European ending of the 2010 World Cup that came about with the elimination of Brazil and Argentina in the quarter finals, and after the presence of five teams from the Latin American cone region among the 8 remaining teams when they entered the quarter-finals. Astonishing indeed.

On the European side, the early elimination of France, England and Italy was also considered by many as surprising.
 http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/destination…

A Disclaimer: The 2010 South Africa FIFA Football, though strange, but being still rather round, allows for the unexpected – so we take no responsibility for the case our predictions are duds! Do not blame us if you execute the wrong bets.

From the reporting by IPS/TerraViva.   http://ipsterraviva.net/UN/currentNew.as…
The final communiques of the G8 and G20 did little to assuage the central grievances that were expressed before the events in Huntsville and Toronto, during the ‘People’s Summit’ held by activists Jun. 18-20, in Toronto, or in the many peaceful demonstrations held prior to and during the summits.

The major issues being protested – lack of commitment regarding climate change and clean energy, the mounting concerns regarding the development of the Albertan tar sands, ongoing wars and foreign occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the imposition of fiscal austerity measures on member states despite continuing fallout from the global economic crisis which began in 2008 – were not resolved.

And perhaps the core concern – that a select, if somewhat broadened, group of elites are making decisions that concern all peoples around the globe largely in secret – appeared to be flaunted by members of the corporate elite, dubbed the ‘B20′ (Business 20), who were on hand.

During the summit, several dozen of the globe’s most powerful CEOs were given exclusive, off-the-record meetings with the G20′s finance ministers and Prime Minister Harper.

The G20 includes the “world’s most industrialised nations” (which also comprise the G8): Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain and the United States.

Its other members are Australia, Mexico, Turkey and South Korea, Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, plus the 27-member European Union.

In concert with the eventual announcement by the G20 that they would seek to halve deficits by 2013 (with the exception of Japan), one business leader projected, “Stimulus is winding down and the private sector is going to have to come in and pick up the slack.”

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty praised the corporate leaders, saying “The advice we get from you is invaluable in terms of our deliberations and the deliberations of our leaders.”

Offering an indication of the B20′s influence, South Korean Finance Minister Jeung-Hyun Yoon told Toronto’s Globe and Mail, “I sincerely hope the business summit can serve as a platform for public-private collaboration and the starting point of the new normal in the global economic architecture.”

As the effects of the latest policy pronouncements begin to be felt, many fear that Toronto will become known also as the staging ground for the security model that will be deployed to protect this new architecture. {The B2o that is!}

FROM:            THE NEW YORK FORUM

CONTACT: Rubenstein Communications

Tom Chiodo (212) 843-8289 / tchiodo@rubenstein.com

Iva Benson (212) 843-8271 / ibenson@rubenstein.com

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The New York Forum is a call for action by the business community to reinvigorate the economy and to find new confidence and credibility. It has been designed to bring together the key actors – leading CEOs, policy makers, thought leaders – at a critical moment to deal with the continuing economic crises.

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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
TO KEYNOTE THE NEW YORK FORUM.

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ANNUAL GATHERING FOR DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS MODELS AND CREATING JOBS, CREATED BY RICHARD ATTIAS

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www.ny-forum.com

New York, NY – (June 16, 2010) –   The New York Forum, to be held on June 22 and 23 in New York City, today announced that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will deliver opening remarks at this year’s conference. Mayor Bloomberg joins Rupert Murdoch, CEO, News Corporation; James Tisch, CEO, Loews Corporation; Andrew Ross Sorkin, the New York Times; Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Chairman and Publisher, The New York Times Company; Vikram Pandit, CEO, Citigroup; Robert Wolf, CEO, UBS Americas; Cathie Black, President, Hearst Magazines; Christine Lagarde, French Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment; and many more for this first-of-its-kind gathering aimed at addressing the future of the global economy, including focusing on strategies to spur job creation and develop new business models.

“We are pleased to announce Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s participation in the first annual New York Forum. New York is the economic capital of the world and there is no other more fitting than Mayor Bloomberg to keynote this important gathering of global leaders,” said Richard Attias, the founder of the New York Forum.

The first annual New York Forum will bring together hundreds of international business leaders, entrepreneurs, sovereign fund managers, regulatory officials and academics for a series of results-oriented discussions, debates and dialogues, with a mission that is both bold and urgent: to reinvent business models, to stimulate job creation and restore faith in the international economy. At The New York Forum, high-profile CEOs, investors, and policy makers will lead plenary sessions, and participants will participate in smaller targeted task forces, led by the Boston Consulting Group.  In a post-crisis world, The New York Forum recognizes the necessity to bring key leaders together in a collaborative environment to brainstorm viable solutions and identify opportunities to effect change across disciplines.

Strategic partners of The New York Forum include The New York Times, The Partnership for New York City and The Boston Consulting Group. Attali and Associates, under the direction of Jacques Attali, French economist, founding president of EBRD and President of Planet Finance, is a programming partner. The Center on Capitalism and Society is partnering on parts of the program content.

For more information about The New York Forum, visit www.ny-forum.com.

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 http://www.ny-forum.com/agenda/

Final Agenda:

DAY 1 TUESDAY, JUNE 22

2:00 – 4:00pm
REGISTRATION

4:00 – 6:00pm

INNOVATION LABORATORY ON REBUILDING TRUST
How can you succeed engaging large numbers of people to rebuild trust in financial institutions by using a design thinking-based innovation methodology? Design and innovation firm IDEO will lead this interactive workshop to explore the issue of movement building and fundamental change in our financial institutions. Participants will be introduced to the innovation practice of design thinking and take part in activities focused on finding inspiration from real people rather than demographics or statistics. Participants will learn through a guided workshop experiences an approach to translating observations and insights into relevant ideas and design solutions, and should be able to use this methodology in their own challenges, beyond the specific case that the session will cover.

Facilitated by Doug Solomon, CTO, IDEO
Introduced by Lance Knobel, Director of the Program, The New York Forum

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6:30 – 7:45pm
WELCOME

Richard Attias, Founder, The New York Forum, and Executive Chairman, The Experience

Opening plenary: REINVENTION: THE CORPORATE IMPERATIVE
Corporate and business leaders have always had to be agile and restless, rethinking their business models for survival as markets and technologies change. But the pace and pressures for change seem greater than ever. How do great leaders navigate through the uncertain terrain of today’s world? What are the key challenges that they face?

Cathleen Black, President, Hearst Magazines
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO, News Corporation
Jerry Speyer, Chairman and CEO, Tishman Speyer
Mort Zuckerman, Chairman and CEO, Boston Properties, and Publisher, New York Daily News
Moderator: Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC

8:00pm
OPENING NETWORKING RECEPTION
New York Grand Hyatt Hotel

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DAY 2 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23

8:00 – 8:20am
CONVERSATION WITH THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY

Michael Bloomberg, Mayor, New York City
Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. , Chairman, The New York Times Company, and Publisher, The New York Times

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8:20 – 9:30am
Plenary: WHAT NEXT FOR CAPITALISM AND THE US ECONOMY’S DYNAMISM?
The worst of the finance-induced recession seems to be over. But there is widening anticipation of jobless growth. How are the engines of innovation performing in the US and abroad? Plenary conceived by the Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University.

CALL FOR ACTION: What can we do and what will we do to generate both economic and job growth?

Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and Member, Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University
Vikram Pandit , CEO, Citigroup
Edmund Phelps , Nobel Prize in Economics, 2006, and Director, Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University
Richard Robb , CEO, Christofferson Robb, and Member, Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University
Leo Tilman , President, L.M. Tillman & Company, and Member, Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University
Moderator: Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC

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10:00 – 11:15am
Interactive sessions in parallel: CHANGING THE RULES

CAN WE RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN WALL STREET?
Both Main Street and Washington seem to have lost trust in Wall Street. What can we do to restore confidence in a fundamental part of our economic system? Do current norms of behavior need to change? What regulations, either national or international, might be needed? How should institutions respond?

Deborah Bailey, Director, Governance, Regulatory & Risk Strategies, Deloitte & Touche, and former Deputy Director, Banking Supervision and Regulation, Federal Reserve
Amar Bhide, Visiting Scholar, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, and Member, Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University
Thierry Breton, CEO, Atos Origin and former Minister of Finance, France
Deven Sharma, President, Standard & Poors
Robert Wolf, CEO, UBS America, and Member, President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Moderator: Matthew Bishop, US Business Editor, The Economist

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CORPORATION
It’s clear that different regulatory and taxation approaches will be taken in responding to climate change around the world. What might varying methods of pricing carbon mean for corporations and investors? Is there any policy approach around which consensus might be found?

James Connaughton, Executive Vice-President, Public and Environmental Policy,
Constellation Energy, and former Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Stuart Eizenstat , Partner, Covington & Burling, and former chief US negotiator, Kyoto Protocol
Daniel Esty , Professor of Law and the Environment, Yale University
Theodore Roosevelt IV , Managing Director, Barclays Capital
Mark Tercek , President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy
Tracy Wolstencroft , Global Head of Environmental Markets, Goldman Sachs
Moderator: Simon Longstaff, Executive Director, St James Ethics Centre

THE NATURE OF INNOVATION
Innovation demands stretching boundaries, taking risks. But most organizations – and societies – are designed to reduce risks and quarantine failures. Is there such a thing as successful failure? What are other key characteristics of innovative organizations?

Philippe Camus, Chairman, Alcatel-Lucent, and Co-Managing Partner, Lagardère Group
Chris Dixon, Co-Founder and CEO, Hunch, and Founder Partner, Founders Collective
Shelly Lazarus, Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Daniel Lubetzky, CEO, Kind Snacks
Jonathan Miller, Chairman & CEO, Digital Media Group and Chief Digital Officer, News Corp.
Avner Ronen, CEO, Boxee
Vivek Wadhwa, Harvard Law School and Duke University
Moderator: Quentin Hardy, National Editor, Forbes

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11:30am – 12:15pm
Plenary: AFTER THE OIL SPILL
The attempt to close off the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico looks likely to drag through the summer. But what does the spill and its aftermath mean for energy policy, our economic situation and the interaction between government and the private sector?

Marc Lipschultz, Global Head, Energy and Infrastructure, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co
Dov Seidman , Author on Business Values and CEO, LRN
James Tisch , CEO, Loews Corporation
Moderator: JuJu Chang, News Anchor, Good Morning America

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12:30-2:45pm
Taskforces: FACING TODAY’S REALITIES Intensive workshops led by The Boston Consulting Group.

The New York Forum Taskforces are small, highly interactive forums that span sectors and geographies, with the purpose of focused discussion among leaders. These workshops, limited to 50 participants each, will use the diverse perspectives of participants to explore the tangible challenges and opportunities associated with specific trends in the current environment. Our intent is to have the taskforces focus quickly on advancing current thinking and move to specific actions that can be taken or considered.

Facilitated by Partners of The Boston Consulting Group, Taskforce sessions will be extremely productive. Each Taskforce session will tackle a specific topic, such as growth, shifts in technology and talent, and new strategies for financing and partnerships in the current business and economic environment. The insights and action plans from these discussions will be woven together and presented in plenary, and carried forward in the Forum’s report to the G20 Summit.

THE FIVE TASKFORCES ARE:

1. DRIVING EXTRAORDINARY GROWTH IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES
Led by Kermit King, Leader, Americas Strategy Practice, BCG
Discussion leaders: Craig Dubow, Chairman and CEO, Gannett Company
David Kirchhoff, President and CEO, Weight Watchers International

2. BUILD RESILIENCE OR ATTEMPT CLAIRVOYANCE: RETHINKING RISK MANAGEMENT
Led by Duncan Martin, Partner, BCG London
Discussion leaders: Robert Kella, Chief Risk Officer, Qantas
Simon Levin, Moffett Professor of Biology, Princeton University
William Rudin, Vice-Chairman and CEO, Rudin Management Company
Leo Tilman, President, L.M. Tilman & Company

3. THE NEW TALENT: DEVELOPING, RETAINING, AND EMPOWERING PEOPLE FOR A COMPLEX WORLD
Led by Michel Frédeau, Senior Partner, BCG Paris and Chair, BCG People
Team and Roselinde Torres, Partner, BCG New York and Global Topic Leader, Leadership
Discussion leaders: Yves de Chaisemartin, Chairman and CEO, Altran
Keith Ferrazzi, CEO, Ferrazzi Greenlight
Kaye Foster-Cheek, former VP, Human Resources, and Executive Committee Member, Johnson & Johnson
Yasmin Namini, SVP, Marketing and Circulation, The New York Times

4. COMPETING IN THE EMERGING-MARKET DRIVEN WORLD: NEW IMPERATIVES FOR BUSINESS
Led by David Michael, Global Leader, Global Advantage Practice, BCG
Discussion leaders: François Barrault, Chairman, FDB Partners
Don Devine, CEO, American Standard Brands
Franck Moison, COO, Colgate-Palmolive
David Wachtel, SVP, Marketing & Communications, Endeavor

5. CHANGING THE GAME: REINVENTING BUSINESS MODELS FOR RADICALLY ENHANCED ADVANTAGE
Led by Mike Deimler, Global Leader, Strategy Practice, BCG
Discussion leaders: Jane Friedman, CEO, Open Road Media
Jack Hidary, Entrepreneur and Founder, Hidary Foundation
Meyer Hoffmann, COO, Mikimoto
Raja Rajamannar, SVP and Chief Innovation & Marketing Officer, Humana
Gary Shainberg, VP, Technology & Innovation, BT

3:15 – 4:30pm
Interactive sessions in parallel: FORGING A NEW PATH

WHAT DOES THE RISE OF ASIA MEAN FOR WESTERN ECONOMIES AND COMPANIES?
The most remarkable global shift in the last decade is the steady growth and increasing economic power in China, India and other parts of Asia. Have we moved decisively into the Asian century or is it more a question of a new balance that companies need to find? Is there a risk that Asian growth is the next bubble to pop?

Jacques Attali, CEO, PlanetFinance
Charles-Edouard Bouée, Senior Partner, Head of Asia, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
S. D. Shibulal, Co-Founder & COO, Infosys, India
Desmond Shum, CEO, Airport City Developments, China
James Wolfensohn, Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, and former President, World Bank
Moderator: Michael Oreskes, Senior Managing Editor, Associated Press

THE END OF INFLUENCE: FOLLOW THE MONEY
A key driver in our transition to a very different-looking world economic order is that the money in the world system lies with Asian exporters, oil producers, and, particularly, their sovereign wealth funds. What does this new balance of power mean in terms of cultural and ideological influence in the coming decades?

Ambassador Ford Fraker, Senior Advisor & Chairman, Middle East and North Africa, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Fahd Hamidaddin, Director, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority
He Sujuan, Chief Representative, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec)
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Financial Columnist, The New York Times
Moderator: Steve Clemons, Senior Fellow, New America Foundation

THE DISRUPTIVE CORPORATION:
FINDING NEW MODELS FOR INNOVATION AND GROWTH
Joseph Schumpeter’s notion of creative destruction has become a business cliché, but some industries really do need root-and-branch rethinking. Are there ways to think about new models that prove particularly effective? Where and how do successful new approaches emerge?

Lisa Gansky, Founder, oFoto; Author, The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing
Jack Hidary, Entrepreneur and Founder, Hidary Foundation
Glenn Kelman, CEO, Redfin
Richard Lesser, Chairman, Americas, The Boston Consulting Group
Dev Patnaik, CEO, Jump Associates
Martin Varsavsky, CEO, Fon
Moderator: John Gapper, Chief Business Commentator, Financial Times

——————–

5:00 – 6:30pm
Closing plenary: HOPE: REBUILDING CONFIDENCE AND CREDIBILITY
Today’s leaders face the dual challenge of navigating their organizations through uncertain, stormy conditions and instilling in their stakeholders and wider community a sense of hope and direction for the future.

CALL FOR ACTION: What are the key outcomes for the G-20 emerging from The New York Forum? How do we confirm the vital role business leaders will play to rebuild confidence and credibility? What is the proper relationship between business and political leaders?

Results of The New York Forum: Lance Knobel, Director of the Program, The New York Forum

Carlos Slim Helú, Chairman, Carlos Slim Foundation, and Chairman, Telmex Foundation, in conversation with Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC

Roundtable
Christine Lagarde , Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment, France
Luis Alberto Moreno , President, Inter-American Development Bank
Edmund Phelps , Nobel Prize in Economics, 2006, and Director, Center on Capitalism and Society, Columbia University
Carlos Slim Helú , Chairman, Carlos Slim Foundation, and Chairman, Telmex Foundation

Moderator: Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC

CLOSING REMARKS

Special address:Elie Wiesel, Professor, Boston University, and Nobel Peace Prize, 1986
Richard Attias , Founder, The New York Forum, and Executive Chairman, The Experience

7:15pm
CLOSING RECEPTION AND CULTURAL EVENING
The TimesCenter
The Diva of Opera: Jessye Norman
Jazz from New Orleans
The Sound of Soul: Billy Paul, Grammy-winning soul musician

from OIC Newsletter 23 (2010) – June 9, 2010:

Message of the Turkish  Secretary General of OIC, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (the Organisation of the Islamic Conference) on the occasion of the World Environment Day:

The World Environment Day is being observed today in the backdrop of growing realization about the dangers of environmental degradation and the climate change.

The OIC fora at its various meetings has unanimously pronounced about the need for cooperation and adoption of effective measures to protect environment which is essential for the sustainable development of its Member States. The OIC Ten-Year Program of Action – a Joint Action document for the Muslim Ummah to face on challenges of the 21st Century – called upon all the OIC Member States to coordinate their environmental policies and positions in international environmental fora so as to prevent any adverse effects of such policies on their economic development.

The climate change poses an existential threat for many OIC Member States. Securing a fair and equitable agreement on climate change within the framework of existing instruments, therefore, remains a priority for our countries. Notwithstanding the need for active and effective participation by the OIC countries in the international environmental fora, it is gratifying to note that the Islamic Executive Bureau for Environment and the Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers is fully seized of all developments in the matter. Our Organization is poised to launch various important initiatives for promotion of clean and renewable energy, clean development mechanism, natural disaster management and alike, under the Islamic Environment Action Program.

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) fully shares the concerns of the international community and is cooperating with UNEP and other relevant agencies in promoting sustainable development while maintaining the delicate balance of ecosystems and life. It is important that more resources are made available to reduce our vulnerabilities to the growing dangers of environmental degradation.

On this occasion, I urge the policy makers, the civil society and all stake holders to join hands in promoting better environmental practices for ensuring the well being of our future generations.

——————

Probe At U.N. Climate Talks After Saudi Sign Smashed.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

APEC to pursue low-carbon technologies: Nuke power to be promoted as low-emission energy source;
new plant construction urged.
FUKUI (Kyodo) Energy ministers from Pacific Rim economies agreed Saturday to embark on a project to create low-carbon model cities using energy-efficient technologies and urged the promotion of nuclear power as an environmentally friendly energy source.

The one-day meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the city of Fukui was hosted by Japan, this year’s APEC chair. At the meeting, which focused on energy security and other matters, participants also concurred that fossil fuels will continue to play a key role in the region, which includes such emerging economies as China, and attached importance to enhancing preparedness for oil supply disruption such as by collaborating with the International Energy Agency over energy response workshops and exercises.

The model cities would likely feature a “smart grid” advanced power transmission network or buildings with facilities for renewable energy generation.

Smart grid, which uses information technology, is an efficient power transmission network that is expected to encourage the use of renewable energy such as solar and wind, because it can give stability to the output of electricity supplied by the fluctuating power sources.

Meanwhile, the declaration stipulated that the deployment of renewable energy, nuclear energy, and power generation involving carbon capture and storage technology should be “promoted,” calling these three “low emission” power sources.

Noting that a growing number of interested economies are using nuclear power to diversify their energy mix and limit carbon emissions, the declaration also referred to the need to assess the emissions reduction potential of nuclear power in APEC.

Toward new nuclear power plant construction, the declaration also said “solid financial frameworks, as well as cooperation among member economies and with relevant multilateral organizations” could be of help.

It is the first time for APEC to clearly stipulate the promotion of building new nuclear power plants, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Probe at UN climate talks after Saudi sign smashed

Saturday, 12 June 2010 10:06
author:Reuters
POLITICS & ECONOMICS / NEWS
by Reuters, Saturday, 12 June 2010

SAUDI STANCE: Saudi angered many by blocking study of global warming. (Getty Images)

UN climate negotiators agreed to an investigation on Friday after protesters smashed a sign emblazoned “Saudi Arabia” and dropped it in toilet after Riyadh blocked a study of deeper cuts in greenhouse gases.

Many countries condemned the protest, after Saudi Arabia blocked a request by small island states at the May 31-June 11 talks for a study of tougher cuts in greenhouse gases to help slow a rise in world sea levels.

Mexico’s delegate Luis Alfonso de Alba, whose country will host the main climate talks in late 2010, said he was initiating an investigation by the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat.

The end of the first week in Bonn of the half-time to Cancun.

Indeed, many seemed to be thinking about the future.

The South African delegation demonstrated its commitment to a successful FIFA World Cup, which starts next Friday, as they observed “football Friday” by donning their national jerseys.

Many attended Mexico’s event on arrangements for COP 16 and COP/MOP 6. Some participants, especially those from civil society, expressed some scepticism over the plan to have side events some six kilometres away from the main venue. However, they reserved judgment, as the Mexicans said that the idea was to have “one integrated conference,” rather than separate spaces for NGOs and governments, and stressed that shuttle buses will be running continuously between the two sites.

Some were also overheard speculating about the venue of the autumn negotiating session before Cancún, with Colombia, Senegal, the Republic of Korea and China featuring amongst the names mentioned in the corridors.

Quite a few delegates seemed to be placing their bets on China – while some speculated that backup reservations had been made in a European city already familiar to negotiators.

Others were looking forward to Saturday’s NGO party. “This weekend I’ll be negotiating the dance floor – and I don’t plan on making any compromises,” said one participant anxious to move her feet.

In regard to content? “I’ll start focusing on next week, hoping we’ll start making progress then,” commented one delegate on his way out.

With so little to show, why not stay in Bonn for the 3/4 time meeting – the last meeting before the target Cancun meeting?

Here in New York the feeling is that Korea must also get a visit and its dues. Could it be left for COP 18 in competition with Qatar?

The UNFCCC touring club may indeed want to dance in new venues.

Improving the Effectiveness of International Climate Change Governance

Hosted by IISD

Side Event

Friday, 4 June 2010

18:00 – 19:30

Room Air (FIDMED)

IISD is undertaking research to examine an effective system of international governance to address the climate change challenge. Five experts will provide regional perspectives on critical issues, and exchange views on climate change governance. The discussion will focus on the following topics and questions:

The shift from a top-down (Kyoto) to a bottom-up approach

§             What are the advantages and disadvantages of the shift to a bottom-up regime?

§             How do we create incentives for broad participation in GHG mitigation?

§             How do we MRV action; connect commitments to actions?

§             What is the role of the UNFCCC?

Financing

• How should funds be managed and accounted for under the UNFCCC?
• What should be left to other processes?
• What decision-making/governance models are needed for both the raising of funds and their distribution and use?
• How to expand the limited space for non-national government actors (e.g., private sector, cities/states, NGOs)?
• How can market-based instruments best be designed?
• How do we account for the strong linkages between climate change and traditional development activities?

The side event will be facilitated by John Drexhage, IISD, who will provide opening comments.

The expert panel will include:

• Jürgen Lefevere, Policy Coordinator, International Climate Change, European Commission
• George Wamukoya , Climate Advisor, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
• Fernado Tudela, Vice Minister for Planning and Environmental Policy and Principal Negotiator on Climate Change Issues in Mexico
• Alden Meyer, Director of Strategy and Policy, Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C

The panel presentations will be followed by a discussion session with the audience.

For further information, please contact Jessica Boyle at jboyle@iisd.ca

UNEP leads 27 countries of the Wider Caribbean on  “land-based pollution” at an International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in Panama City based on the ISTAC of Kingston, Jamaica (Interim Scientific, Technical and Advisory Committee to the Cartagena Convention. Will they touch nevertheless the menacing Deep-Water Oil-Well Blow-Out?

from: James Sniffen <sniffenj@un.org>

UNEP/CEP PRESS RELEASE: REGIONAL GOVERNMENT POLLUTION EXPERTS MEET IN PANAMA.

Panama City, 24th May, 2010:

Over 50 pollution control experts from 27 countries of the Wider Caribbean
gather today (Monday 24th May) in Panama City at the invitation of the
United Nations Environment Programme’s Caribbean Environment Programme
(UNEP CEP) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The gathering of experts for the 5th Meeting of the Interim Scientific, Technical and Advisory Committee (ISTAC) to the Protocol concerning pollution from land-based sources, commonly known as the LBS Protocol, will last for five days.  The CEP is the Secretariat for this Protocol and is based in Kingston, Jamaica.

The LBS Protocol is one of three agreements under the Convention for the
Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean
Region (the Cartagena Convention).  It establishes regional guidelines and
standards for reducing the impact of pollution on the coastal and marine
environment, and on human health.   Over 80% of the pollution of the marine
environment of the Wider Caribbean is estimated to originate from land
based sources and activities.

Panama, the host country, is one of only six countries to have ratified the LBS Protocol.  The others are Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Saint Lucia, France and the United States.  Discussions during the meeting will focus on measures to increase the region’s commitment to ratify the Protocol, and have it enter into force and become international law as soon as possible.

In support of regional cooperation, UNEP CEP is partnering with the IMO and their joint Regional Activity Centre for Oil Spills (RAC REMPEITC) to bring together experts from environmental agencies, maritime authorities and port administrations for this 5th LBS ISTAC.

Delegates are expected to identify practical measures to improve the implementation of marine environmental agreements including the IMO London Convention on the control of pollution from dumping of wastes at sea and the MARPOL Convention on the prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships.

According to Nelson Andrade, Coordinator of UNEP CEP”   “It is vital that
Governments adopt a more integrated approach to reducing pollution from
land and marine based sources”.  He noted that the continued partnership
between UNEP and IMO will help to effectively implement the Cartagena
Convention and its three Protocols and to reduce marine contamination.

Meeting Participants are also expected to review recent achievements of the
UNEP CEP to reduce and control marine pollution and to endorse a new work
plan and budget for 2010-2011.

For additional information, please contact:

Christopher Corbin,Programme Officer,
Assessment and Management of Environment Pollution (AMEP),
Regional Co-ordinating Unit, UNEP CEP
Kingston, Jamaica
Telephone: (876) 922-9267 — Fax: (876) 922-9292
http://www.cep.unep.org; cjc@cep.unep.org;

About UNEP’s Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) -  The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) in 1976 under the framework of its Regional Seas Programme.   It was based on the importance and value of the Wider Caribbean Region’s fragile and vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystems including an abundant and mainly endemic flora and fauna,

A Caribbean Action Plan was adopted by the Caribbean countries and led to the adoption, in 1983, of the only current regional, legally-binding agreement for the protection of the marine environment, the Cartagena Convention.  The Convention and its first Protocol (Oil Spill) entered into force in 1986.

Two other protocols were developed by the region – the Protocols on Special Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) and the Control of Pollution from Land Based Sources (LBS) in 1990 and 1999 respectively.

The SPAW Protocol entered into force in 2000, whereas three ratifying countries are still needed for the LBS Protocol.

The Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) serves as the Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention and is based in Kingston, Jamaica.

Each Protocol is served by a Regional Activity Centre.  These Centres are
based in the Netherlands Antilles (Regional Marine Pollution Emergency
Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean, RAC/REMPEITC) for
the Oil Spills Protocol, Guadeloupe (RAC/SPAW) for the SPAW Protocol, Cuba
(Centre of Engineering and Environmental Management of Coasts and Bays) and
Trinidad & Tobago (Institute of Marine Affairs) for the LBS Protocol.

From Jeannette Larue, Coordinator Environmental Education, Ministry of Education, Seychelles. 5/19/2010.

To celebrate Earth Day, the Ministry of Education in Seychelles, organized a public speaking competition for its young people to give their views on climate change. Please find attached an article on the outcomes.

Calderón’s Washington Visit. May 19, 2010.

Calderón and Obama Condemn Arizona Immigration Law

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderón to Washington this week where the two leaders decried a tough immigration law approved by Arizona last month. During remarks, Obama said he would ask the Department of Justice to take a “very close look” at the law to determine its constitutionality. “We’re examining any implications, especially for civil rights, because in the United States of America, no law-abiding person, be they an American citizen, a legal immigrant, or a visitor or tourist from Mexico, should ever be subject to suspicion simply because of what they look like.” Calderón rejected SB1070 as “discriminatory.” In his first official visit to Washington, the Mexican president will deliver remarks to U.S. Congress on Thursday. Read an AS/COA analysis about Calderón’s visit.

————————

News Alert: Financial overhaul dealt setback – Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Senate votes to continue debating a bill that would overhaul financial regulations, dealing a setback to Democratic leaders, who wanted to move toward a final vote on the legislation. The motion to end debate fell three votes short of the two-thirds majority required.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com:
http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/NQU5FR/JK83W/N3Z9G3/2XP5K3/TON4I/AZ/t

The plan was for the financial-regulation reform bill to have a vote for cloture — that is to say, a vote to end debate and move to a final vote — at 2 p.m. today. But a handful Senate Democrats angry that their amendments haven’t been considered derailed that. At 3:15 p.m., Democrats called an emergency caucus meeting. About 30 minutes after that meeting, Majority Leader Harry Reid called for a cloture vote.

He lost; 57-42.

And he lost because he lost Democrats. Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins actually voted for cloture. Their votes were canceled out by Democrats like Maria Cantwell and Russ Feingold, who aren’t ready to give up on their amendments.

Before getting to what that means, it’s worth saying why Reid wants to move to a final vote. The answer is floor time. Next week, the Senate is scheduled to take up the next war supplemental, which will have funding both for Iraq and Afghanistan and also for various disaster-relief efforts, and it will take up a bill to extend economic supports for the jobless.

If the Senate doesn’t finish financial regulation this week, it probably can’t do those bills next week because the GOP’s routine filibusters mean that each vote will require days of floor time. And the plan, as of now, is for the Senate to adjourn come Memorial Day.

Of course, the Senate could just choose to work past Memorial Day, which would solve the problem of floor time.

As for what happens now, debate on financial regulation will continue. More amendments will be considered, at least if Democrats and Republicans can come to an agreement on whether to consider them. And another cloture vote will have to be called. That might be bad for the Senate schedule, but it’s probably good for the bill. This is the rare process in which the amendments are making the legislation substantially better. If the Senate has to work over Memorial Day to accommodate that process, so be it.

OECD – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is often seen as an exclusive club of rich countries. It is basically made up of Western and central European countries, Anglo-Saxon countries, Japan, and a very small number of newly industrialized countries limited just to Korea, Mexico, and Turkey – as recognized also in the structure of www.SustainabiliTank.info Home-page.

The list of OECD countries ten days ago included the Twenty countries that originally signed the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on 14 December 1960.

Since then eleven countries have become members of the Organization. The last to be accepted before last Monday was the Slovak Republic that ratified acceptance December 14, 2000,

The Member countries of the Organization before last Monday, and the dates on which they deposited their instruments of ratification are:
AUSTRALIA: 7 June 1971
AUSTRIA: 29 September 1961
BELGIUM: 13 September 1961
CANADA: 10 April 1961
CHILE: 7 May 2010
CZECH REPUBLIC: 21 December 1995
DENMARK: 30 May 1961
FINLAND: 28 January 1969
FRANCE: 7 August 1961
GERMANY: 27 September 1961
GREECE: 27 September 1961
HUNGARY: 7 May 1996
ICELAND: 5 June 1961
IRELAND: 17 August 1961
ITALY: 29 March 1962
JAPAN: 28 April 1964
KOREA: 12 December 1996
LUXEMBOURG: 7 December 1961
MEXICO: 18 May 1994
NETHERLANDS: 13 November 1961
NEW ZEALAND: 29 May 1973
NORWAY: 4 July 1961
POLAND: 22 November 1996
PORTUGAL: 4 August 1961
SLOVAK REPUBLIC: 14 December 2000
SPAIN: 3 August 1961
SWEDEN: 28 September 1961
SWITZERLAND: 28 September 1961
TURKEY: 2 August 1961
UNITED KINGDOM: 2 May 1961
UNITED STATES: 12 April 1961

The preamble to the document that created December 14, 2010 the OECD organization says:

PARIS 14th December 1960

THE GOVERNMENTS of the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Belgium, Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Greece, the Republic of Iceland, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Portuguese Republic, Spain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Swiss Confederation, the Turkish Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America;

CONSIDERING that economic strength and prosperity are essential for the attainment of the purposes of the United Nations, the preservation of individual liberty and the increase of general well-being;

BELIEVING that they can further these aims most effectively by strengthening the tradition of co-operation which has evolved among them;

RECOGNISING that the economic recovery and progress of Europe to which their participation in the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation has made a major contribution, have opened new perspectives for strengthening that tradition and applying it to new tasks and broader objectives;

CONVINCED that broader co-operation will make a vital contribution to peaceful and harmonious relations among the peoples of the world;

RECOGNISING the increasing interdependence of their economies;

DETERMINED by consultation and co-operation to use more effectively their capacities and potentialities so as to promote the highest sustainable growth of their economies and improve the economic and social well-being of their peoples;

BELIEVING that the economically more advanced nations should co-operate in assisting to the best of their ability the countries in process of economic development;

RECOGNISING that the further expansion of world trade is one of the most important factors favouring the economic development of countries and the improvement of international economic relations; and

DETERMINED to pursue these purposes in a manner consistent with their obligations in other international organisations or institutions in which they participate or under agreements to which they are a party;

HAVE THEREFORE AGREED on the following provisions for the reconstitution of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development -

And the proactive 21 articles can be seen at:

http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1915847_1_1_1_1,00.html

————————-

On Monday, May 10, 2010, Israel, Estonia and Slovenia, by unanimous vote of the member States, were invited to join the OECD.

Israel, Estonia and Slovenia Join the OECD (UPDATE)

Israel, Slovenia and Estonia were invited to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of (now 34) wealthy democracies.  The OECD does a host of things, from helping to stabilize its members’ economies to serving as a focal point for assisting in the economic development of poorer countries.

The full release can be read at:  

—————————-
 http://ipsterraviva.net/UN/currentNew.as…

MONDAY, MAY 17, 2010
Shielded by U.S. Umbrella, Israel Joins Rich Man’s Club.
by Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (IPS) – With tongue firmly entrenched in his cheek, an Arab diplomat recounts an Israeli cabinet meeting interrupted by an aide rushing in with the latest statistics on the state of the economy. The crops were down, growth was low, reserves were minimal and inflation was high, he announced, portraying a rather gloomy economic picture.

Momentarily, the prime minister seemed flustered by the news – until he realized the aide was really referring to the state of the Israeli economy. Breathing a sigh of relief, he joyfully exclaimed: “Thank God, for a moment I thought you were referring to the American economy” – and went on with the business of the day, totally unfazed. The apocryphal story, doing the rounds at the United Nations, reveals the reality of Israeli life: its very existence has depended largely on the unrestrained political, economic and military support of the United States.

After more than a decade of lobbying, Israel won a key diplomatic victory Monday by gaining admission to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). But could Israel have joined the OECD without the billions of dollars in U.S. aid and outright grants, which helped propel the Jewish state into the ranks of Western industrial nations?

The Paris-based organisation, long described as an exclusive club of rich nations, also invited Estonia and Slovenia to join its privileged ranks, pushing its total membership to 34.

OECD’s current members range from Austria, Australia, Belgium, and Canada to France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Britain and the United States.

All three new members will be inducted at a special ceremony during the annual meeting of the OECD Council, chaired by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Paris on May 27.

The OECD decided to admit Israel into its ranks despite accusations of human rights violations and war crimes by a U.N. commission – specifically during the war against Gaza in December 2008.

Asked if Israel’s entry will have an impact on how the politically and economically powerful European Union (EU) responds to human rights violations in the occupied territories, Nadia Hijab, an independent analyst and a senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, told IPS she wasn’t sure how it will play out with the 27 EU states.

But Hijab pointed out that from a human rights perspective, the OECD has completely ignored its own Road Map for Israel’s accession, which states that Israel has to demonstrate a commitment to pluralist democracy based on the rule of law.

Indeed, only a democracy can join the OECD, she added.

But human rights organisations have accused Israel of violating most of the basic principles of democracy, including civil and political rights, freedom of the press and fundamental rights of people under occupation.

A 17-point memo to the OECD by the worldwide Palestinian coalition BNC (the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee) listed the many ways in which Israel does not uphold the rule of law at home or abroad.

In a detailed critique published in Agence Global, Hijab points out that the EU’s planned upgrade of relations with Israel was put on hold in the wake of Israel’s Gaza attack.

She said intensive lobbying by several churches and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including three Israeli human rights organisations, B’Tselem, HaMoked and Physicians for Human Rights, helped prevent it from being acted on.

Writing on ‘U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel’ for the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) last December, Jeremy Sharp, a specialist in Middle Eastern affairs, says “Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II.” Since 1985, the United States has provided over 3.0 billion dollars in outright annual grants – with no payback obligation – to Israel. Of this, about 1.9 billion dollars have been earmarked as military aid and 1.2 billion dollars as economic aid.

Virtually all of the U.S. equipment in the Israeli military inventory has been purchased out of U.S. funds.

For many years, Sharp points out, “U.S. economic aid helped subsidise a lacklustre Israeli economy, though since the rapid expansion of Israel’s hi-tech sector in the 1990s (sparked partially by U.S.-Israeli scientific cooperation), Israel is now considered a fully industrialised nation with an economy on par with some Western European countries.”

Consequently, Israel and the United States agreed to gradually phase out economic grant aid to Tel Aviv.

According to an agreement reached under former U.S. President George W. Bush in August 2007, and to compensate for the loss of economic aid, there will be incremental annual increases in U.S. military grants to Israel, reaching 3.0 billion dollars by 2012.

The administration of President Barack Obama will dole out about 2.8 billion dollars in military grants to Israel in 2010.

And, Sharp says, U.S. military aid has “helped transform Israel’s armed forces into one of the most technologically sophisticated militaries in the world.”

Despite its admission to the OECD, Israel will continue to depend on strong political and military support from the United States. And more so at the United Nations, where Washington has continued to shield Israel from Security Council sanctions for war crimes and human rights violations.

Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies and chair of the Middle Eastern Studies Programme at the University of San Francisco, told IPS there is no way that Israel could get away with its widespread and systematic violations of international law were it not effectively shielded by the U.S. veto power in the Security Council.

“Israel is not inherently worse than other countries, it’s just that their government has so few constraints upon its behaviour,” he said.

But thanks to this superpower umbrella which protects the Israelis from sanctions and other consequences of their actions, there is no deterrent preventing them from running roughshod over international legal norms, Zunes added.

This is not fundamentally different than the threat of a French veto preventing the Security Council from enforcing its resolutions regarding the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, he added.

Similarly, for decades, Britain and the United States blocked any decisive U.N. action regarding Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor.

“The failure to force Israel to end its occupation, colonisation and repression of its neighbours, therefore, is not simply the fault of a supposedly all-powerful Zionist lobby,” Zunes said.

Rather, it is yet another sad chapter in the longstanding tradition of great powers hypocritically aiding and abetting the very kinds of illegitimate policies by their allies for which they would demand strict international sanctions, he argued.

Or worse, if they were being carried out by a regime deemed less friendly to their interests, Zunes declared.

———————

Our website purports to provide a neutral platform when it comes to the Middle East. This includes a clear rejection of the world pouring in finances to the oil countries and hurting the interests of our generation and of all generations to come.

Providing funds to the oil countries has done nothing for their development and only enriched a very thin layer of royal families in underpopulated countries that in order to deflect attention from what they do to their own people created the obviously, originally UN-approved Israel bogey-man. Rather then develop the Middle East, the oil money deepened resentment of Israel and the US was poring money not just into Israel, but to all States in the region.

Egypt got more money then Israel, just in order to pay for the smile of the Sphinx – Egypt being the only Arab country that had the military potential to do mischief – so they were bought off with American money that was used up not to create an economy. There is no chance Egypt will be invited to OECD membership – they have little to offer but needs.

Israel is the only Democracy in the region – albeit not a perfect one as it is being managed under conditions of a perpetual state-of-war. Yes, there is much we criticize in Israel, but we also know that as long as the Arab leaders do not follow President Sadat’s example and come to Jerusalem – Yes – Jerusalem – not Tel-Aviv – with an outstretched hand to claim “Peace and Territory” – there is very little that can change. The Arabs will have the money and stay underdeveloped and poor – the Israelis will have the technologies and will help build the World of tomorrow. So far as our friend Thalif Deen, his article is informative as far as it describes the Arab position at the UN – it negative and uninformed when it comes to what the UN ought to be like.

Will Brazil, China, India look at what we say here and think how to move up in the world to enter OECD also – see Mexico, Korea, Turkey, Israel were able to and have much smaller economies?