The Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Paul Adam, has stressed the need to re-think the development architecture necessary to address both sustainable development and climate change.
Minister Adam was speaking at the opening panel session of the MEDays Forum organized by the Amadeus Institute and the government of Morocco under the high patronage of the King of Morocco in Tangiers.
The MEDays Forum has established an annual platform for international debate on topics of global importance. The theme of the panel discussion in which Minister Adam participated was entitled “Cancun 2010, Durban 2011, Rio 2012: what leeway do developing countries have in climate discussions?”
A specific aim of this year’s event was to ensure that those countries whose voice is often marginalized are heard and reach a wider audience.
In his intervention, Minister Adam spoke about the lack of appropriate development mechanisms to address the specific needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
However, Minister Adam highlighted the opportunity which existed for SIDS to be able to benefit from investment in the green and blue economy, providing that appropriate financing was made available.
Several panel members also noted the lack of progress on being able to truly disburse funds efficiently to tackle climate change. He explained that many states that have announced funds allocated to tackle climate change have simply re-channeled existing funds towards climate change adaptation.
Minister Adam reiterated the concern that as there was no specific mechanism as yet dealing with climate change adaptation funding, and as a consequence, many middle-income SIDS were excluded from the majority of climate change funds being channeled through existing funding mechanisms that use GDP per capita criteria in determining eligibility.
All panelists agreed that specific, practical actions have to be prioritized over positioning of national interests, and called for the strengthening of global environmental and developmental governance to achieve this.
The panel was chaired by Sylvain Attal, Senior Anchor of France 24, and was composed of the following personalities in addition to Minister Adam:
HE Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
HE Mr. Karl Hood, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Grenada
HE Mr. Hong Jun Yu, Deputy Minister in charge of Research and Studies of the Communist Party Central Committee of the People’s Republic of China
HE Mr. Kakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions of UNEP
HE Mr. Boonan Shin, Ambassador for Green Growth from the Republic of Korea
PHOTO: Mr. Jean-Paul Adam (right) at opening panel session of the MEDays Forum / Photo from Seychelles Tourism Board
MEDIA CONTACT: Alain St.Ange, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board, Email: alain.s@seychelles.com
