Kofi Annan guest speaker at Marbella conference
FORMER UN secretary general Kofi Annan will be the VIP guest speaker at the third World Conference on Climate Change and Wine in Marbella on 13 April. His speech will be directed to businesses and companies about the importance of adopting sustainable practices and development. Attendance is open to business people and members of the general public.
After the speech, titled “The Global Compact: Challenging Business to Become Leading Actors in Sustainable Development”, there will be a 30-minute question and answer session followed by an official gala dinner at Los Monteros Hotel, in aid of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.
Annan is president/founder of the Global Humanitarian Forum, an international arena created “to foster dialogue and broker partnerships that strengthen the international community’s ability to effectively address current and emerging humanitarian challenges, including sustainability and the effects of global warming on people of the world, especially the poor”.
A report released by the forum in May 2009 estimated that climate change is responsible for the deaths of 300,000 people every year, with 325 million of the poorest suffering most. According to the forum, “All its work ultimately aims to be of benefit to the most vulnerable, particularly those living in least developed countries.”
“In an address to the World Economic Forum in 1999, Annan challenged business leaders to join an international initiative – the Global Compact – that would “bring companies together with UN agencies, as well as labour and civil society, to promote and respect universal environmental and social principles”.
Organiser Pancho Campo
In his speech in Marbella, at the Palacio de Congresos y Ferias, he will reiterate “the responsibility of businesses and individuals to address environmental challenges, undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility, protect human rights and encourage the development and transfer of environmentally-sustainable technologies”.
The conference has been organised by Pancho Campo, president of The Wine Academy of Spain.
Campo believes the climate situation should have been prevented decades ago and therefore the solution “is now way too late… The fact is that the great majority of the wine sector in Spain should adopt a much more responsible and proactive attitude… Those people who still cast doubt on the existence of climate change are outdated and have not documented themselves accordingly.”
He warns that climate changes will affect the wine making process, which could result in a change in quality level produced by some grape varieties.
World Conference on Climate Change and Wine