08/17/10
Kevin Rudd and that UN job
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd MP talks exclusively to Kerrod Trott of the WESTENDER about his new role with the UN.
Following on from the Copenhagen Climate Summit last year, Kevin Rudd had no hesitation in accepting UN General Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s invitation to become a member of the UN’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability, tasked with finding ways to lift people out of poverty while tackling climate change and ensuring that economic development is environmentally friendly.
To be co-chaired by Finland's President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma, the 21-member High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability brings together representatives from government, the private sector and civil society in countries rich and poor.
The Panel also comprises Gro Harlem Brundtland, Han Seung-soo, Yukio Hatoyama, and Luisa Dias Diogo, former prime ministers of Norway, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Mozambique, respectively, as well as Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdallah Bin Zayid Al Nahayan, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, and Switzerland's Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey.
The Panel will present its report to the UN in late 2011, and will help lay the framework for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio 2012).
“When I spoke to Ban Ki-moon in New York last month,” says Kevin Rudd, “he stressed the importance of building a global consensus on tackling Climate Change before the Rio Conference.”
“The problem with Copenhagen,” said Kevin, “was that it was operating in two, parallel worlds. On one level, you had all the technical meetings going on where the details were being worked out in advance.”
“On a political level, you had the heads of state and world leaders then flying into Copenhagen at the last minute and being presented with agreements and proposals which they couldn’t or wouldn’t accept.”
“To build a global consensus,” he said, “this new UN panel has set itself the goal of producing practical and effective guidelines for mitigating Climate Change which are also politically digestible.”
When asked whether his membership of the UN Panel would interfere with his ability to represent the Electorate of Griffith in Parliament, Kevin Rudd was quick to refute the suggestion.
“It won’t affect my local duties at all,” he said. “There’ll be three or four overseas meetings in the next twelve months, and the rest of the work can be done via telephone and the internet.”
“Besides, I know my local community wants action on Climate Change,” he said. “It’s always been a really important issue for me, and I know there are many, many people who are equally aware of the importance of action on Climate Change.”
“The electors of Griffith who care about Climate Change will know that their views are being represented not just in Canberra, but globally,” he said.
To be co-chaired by Finland's President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma, the 21-member High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability brings together representatives from government, the private sector and civil society in countries rich and poor.
The Panel also comprises Gro Harlem Brundtland, Han Seung-soo, Yukio Hatoyama, and Luisa Dias Diogo, former prime ministers of Norway, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Mozambique, respectively, as well as Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdallah Bin Zayid Al Nahayan, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, and Switzerland's Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey.
The Panel will present its report to the UN in late 2011, and will help lay the framework for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio 2012).
“When I spoke to Ban Ki-moon in New York last month,” says Kevin Rudd, “he stressed the importance of building a global consensus on tackling Climate Change before the Rio Conference.”
“The problem with Copenhagen,” said Kevin, “was that it was operating in two, parallel worlds. On one level, you had all the technical meetings going on where the details were being worked out in advance.”
“On a political level, you had the heads of state and world leaders then flying into Copenhagen at the last minute and being presented with agreements and proposals which they couldn’t or wouldn’t accept.”
“To build a global consensus,” he said, “this new UN panel has set itself the goal of producing practical and effective guidelines for mitigating Climate Change which are also politically digestible.”
When asked whether his membership of the UN Panel would interfere with his ability to represent the Electorate of Griffith in Parliament, Kevin Rudd was quick to refute the suggestion.
“It won’t affect my local duties at all,” he said. “There’ll be three or four overseas meetings in the next twelve months, and the rest of the work can be done via telephone and the internet.”
“Besides, I know my local community wants action on Climate Change,” he said. “It’s always been a really important issue for me, and I know there are many, many people who are equally aware of the importance of action on Climate Change.”
“The electors of Griffith who care about Climate Change will know that their views are being represented not just in Canberra, but globally,” he said.
advertisement
advertisement