President Michel becomes a Patron of the World Sustainable Development Forum |13 February 2016

President James Michel has accepted the invitation to become one of the Patrons of the World Sustainable Development Forum in New Delhi, India.

The World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF) was established informally in 2005 to function as a global platform for knowledge sharing and policy discourse aimed at advancing the achievement of sustainable development including the Millennium Development Goals.

The forum is now an independent organisation and works in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri).

The forum functions as a platform to identify, analyse and disseminate policy interventions to enhance human well-being and create conditions for a sustainable future.

Other patrons include the former President of Chile, Ricardo Lagos; former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen; President of Iceland, Dr Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson; former Prime Minister of Norway, Kjell Magne Bondevik; the honorary chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda; and former chief executive of British Petroleum, Lord John Browne.

The forum also organises regional sustainable development summits to disseminate knowledge and generate public awareness on issues of sustainable development based on messages emerging from the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit organised by Teri.

In a letter addressed to Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, the former President of Guyana, who is the Patron-in-Chief of WSDF, President Michel said the creation of this initiative in the immediate aftermath of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change by the world community is indeed timely and commendable.

“There is no doubt that the WSDF will play a major role in galvanising collective action and attention for global partnership and cooperation in the fields of sustainable development and climate change. Seychelles is keen to be part of this collective commitment and action for the creation of a better world. It is with pleasure that I accept to become a Patron of WSDF.”

President Michel has a longstanding relationship with the WSDF and has taken part in several Delhi Sustainable Development Summits (DSDS).  In 2013, President Michel was awarded the Sustainable Development Leadership Award at the DSDS.