To all Heads of State and Government

ClubdeMadrid
ClubdeMadrid
Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

The Mission statement of Le Club de Madrid reads: Democracy that delivers:

The Mission statement of Le Club de Madrid reads: Democracy that delivers:

We, the members of the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid, are all democratic former presidents and prime ministers from around the world. Since we are no longer in office, we now represent our personal leadership experience and commitment and not our countries or parties, and we are therefore freer to share our experiences while still keenly aware of the pressures and problems faced by todayโ€™s leaders.

Through the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid we partner with governments, inter-governmental organizations, civil society, scholars and the business world, building bridges between them and current leaders and policy makers and encouraging dialogue to foster social and political change.

eTurboNews received this update from Sir James R. Mancham, the founding president of the Republic of the Seychelles. The Seychelles is also a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP), a coalition of destinations working on Green Growth and Quality. eTurboNews is also a founding member of the organization.

Sir James R. Mancham addressed the recent forum. He said:

Dear Sir
I have read with profound interest your article in Nation (today Friday 17th October) concerning the โ€œSeychelles calls for Government to Multi-bilateralism for Peace and Sustainable Developmentโ€ as propounded by Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Paul Adam in an address at the recent 69th U.N. General Assembly as a follow up support to President Michelโ€™s โ€œBlue Economyโ€ concept as representing an equitable way of moving forward in the interest of the Small Island States in the world.

As the founding President of Seychelles who is actually an active member of Le Club de Madrid, I would like to share the overall sentiments of the Club on the issue of climate change as endorsed by the letter which the Club addressed on the 19th September 2014 to all Heads of State and Government under the signatory of Mary Robinson โ€“ President of Ireland (1990-1997), UNSG-Special Envoy for Climate Change, John Kufuor โ€“ President of Ghana (2001-2009), UNSG-Special Envoy for Climate Change and Vaira Vike-Freiberga โ€“ President of Latvia (1999-2007) โ€“ President of the Club de Madrid โ€“

โ€œTo all Heads of State and Government
When you assumed the responsibility of leading your country, like us, the 97 democratic, former Heads of State and Government, Members of the Club de Madrid, you committed yourself to foster justice, progress and the welfare of all citizens, guaranteeing access to basic services such as clean water, energy and health.โ€จThe challenges and risks posed by climate change, the object of the historic Climate Change Summit convened by the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, next September 23rd, are at the core of todayโ€™s global concerns, precisely because they are affecting and will continue to affect the satisfaction of basic needs and universal access to basic services across the globe. Next weekโ€™s Climate Change Summit provides world leaders an opportunity to lead in addressing climate change and to muster climate action at the highest political level to leave a safer planet for future generations. Your presence and active participation is, therefore, vital.โ€จThe world cannot afford a strained, watered-down climate agreement, or yet anotherโ€™ business as usualโ€™ strategy. Efforts by our environment or foreign affairs ministers simply are not enough. The decided and personal engagement of each and every Head of State and Government worldwide is essential to achieve an agreement that will allow low carbon solutions, development and resilience to an increasingly adverse climate. We, therefore, call on you to speak up, raise our climate change ambitions and start taking the bold steps needed to tackle the challenge.โ€จThe Members of the Club de Madrid have been stressing the urgency of climate action since 2007 when we launched our โ€˜Global Leaders for Climate Actionโ€™ initiative. Through this project, we actively addressed its complex and intricately intertwined challenges. Four of our Members โ€“ Gro Harlem Brundtland, Ricardo Lagos, Festus Mogae and Han Seung Soo โ€“ also acted as United Nationsโ€™ Special Envoy for Climate Change during the negotiations leading up to the Copenhagen Accord of 2009. The two of us, once again two Club de Madrid Members, are proud to have taken on this role in yet another crucial phase of the negotiations, supporting the U.N. Secretary General as we move towards the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFOCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) in Paris in 2015, when countries should finally agree on a legally binding international climate treaty applicable to all 195 member states signatories to the Convention. The negotiations leading up to the 2015 COP in Paris will be decisive for the future global climate change regime.โ€จWe all have a fundamental interest in ensuring an international agreement, one that will guarantee a strong rules-based system to manage climate risk. Inaction or even slow action will be interpreted by many as a serious omission, if not outright abandonment of political responsibility, threatening the credibility of democratic institutions and their capacity to deal with the effects of climate change. Once and for all, the world must begin a real transformation towards low-carbon economies.

โ€จWe invite you to lead and steer a committed effort to identify what your country can do to tackle the major, global challenge and to personally present the results of your countryโ€™s efforts, with the highest level of ambition, during the Climate Change Summit next-September 23rd. The Summit will be a major step towards the achievement of a legally binding international climate treaty in 2015. By engaging in the process, you will significantly strengthen the common pursuit of a transformative global response towards a better future, averting the dramatic consequences of climate change.โ€จLater on this year, the G20 will be meeting in Brisbane, Australia. This will be yet another pivotal moment on the road to COP 21 in Paris. The G20 countries have a significant role to play in tackling the worldโ€™s economic challenges. They cannot ignore climate change as one of the key financial and economic risks of our times, with global consequences that require collective action. Climate change is a must in the G20 Agenda.

We call on both the Australian presidency of the G20 and next yearโ€™s Turkish presidency to recognize the critical opportunity and the responsibility they bear in ensuring that issues of enormous significance for the worldโ€™s economy, such as climate change, are effectively addressed. We urge you to forcefully join us in this special appeal.โ€จThe Club de Madrid and its 97 Members, all democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from around the globe, stand ready to support your actions and raise the climate ambition of your country. Let us, together, overcome the political frailness that has contaminated climate negotiations so we can progress firmly forward and contribute to shared prosperity and welfare for all.โ€

Unfortunately, due to time constraints and other commitments, I will be unable to participate in the special get-together which Le Club de Madrid is organizing in Coolum, Queensland, Australia, on the 17th of November in the context of the G20 Summit which Australia would be hosting in Brisbane at this time โ€“ to protest as to the decision of the organizers to miss climate change on their Agenda.

But I will certainly make it a point to attend Le Club de Madrid General Assembly and Annual Conference which is scheduled to take place in Florence, Italy, some days later, when I will make it a point to assert Seychelles manifest position on the issue as per the declaration of President Michel and Minister Adam at the recent U.N. General Assembly.
Yours faithfully
James R. Mancham

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...