Minister Adam attends MEDaya conference in Morocco |29 November 2011
He was speaking at the opening panel session of the MEDays forum organised by the Amadeus Institute and the Government of Morocco under the high patronage of the King of Morocco in Tangiers. The annual international forum MEDays, which takes place in Tangiers, is the main event organised by the Amadeus Institute, which is an independent Moroccan think tank, founded in 2008 and based in Rabat.
The MEDays forum has established an annual platform for international debate on topics of global importance. The theme of the panel discussion in which Mr Adam took part was entitled “Cancun 2010, Durban, 2011, Rio 2012, what leeway do developing countries have in climate discussions?”
It was attended by more than 1,000 delegates including governmental representatives, public administrators, business leaders, researchers and graduate students, civil society and international governmental experts.
Ensuring those countries whose voice is often marginalised are heard and reach a wider audience was a specific aim of this year’s event.
Mr Adam spoke about the lack of appropriate development mechanisms to address the specific needs of Small Island Developing States (Sids).
He highlighted the opportunity which exists for Sids to benefit from investment in the green and blue economy, providing that appropriate financing is made available.
Several panel members also noted the lack of progress on being able to truly disburse funds efficiently to tackle climate change.
Mr Adam explained that many states that have announced funds allocated to tackle climate change have simply re-channelled existing funds towards climate change adaptation.
He reiterated the concern that as there is 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 channelled through existing funding mechanisms that use GDP per capita criteria in determining eligibility.
All panellists agreed that specific, practical actions have to be prioritised 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 in addition to Mr Adam, was composed of the Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Grenada. Karl Hood, Deputy Minister in charge of research and studies of the Communist Party Central Committee of the People’s Republic of China Hong Jun Yu, director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions of UNEP Kakary Kante and ambassador for Green Growth from the Republic of Korea Boonan Shin.
Over several days, the panel confronts and brings together different readings, opinions and recommendations from high level international policymakers on essential topics and issues concerning the South.
Today the MEDays forum is considered a strategic meeting for global players involved in the geostrategic, political, economic and social spheres of southern countries and more specifically the Mediterranean Maghreban, African and Arab regions, but also with an opening on the Latin American regions and Asia. The South has now its own forum.
According to the president of the Amadeus Institute, “The MEDays has fulfilled a gap in this geographic zone and is a catalyst for world economy.”
A community of more than 150 speakers of high standards is present each year at the MEDays forum and takes part in more than 20 panels to open up practical propositions and concrete sectoral solutions. Among them are heads of state and ministers, government officials, entrepreneurs, representatives from intergovernmental organisations, experts and civil society representatives.