Two Nobel Laureates will grace the forthcoming Second Summit of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) to be held at the Sheraton Fiji Resort, Denarau Island, Nadi from June 18 to 20, 2014.
Both of them were winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
An international policy expert, researcher and speaker on environment, climate and island issues His Excellency Dr Rolph Payet, Minister for Environment and Energy of the Republic of Seychelles, will be speaking on “The Blue Economy Transforming Island Economies”.
Dr Payet was appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Seychelles in October 2009. He is also the Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Seychelles, Mr James Michel, since 2007. In that role, he independently advises the President on numerous environmental matters including sustainable development, biodiversity, climate change, energy, and international environment policy.
Dr Payet is the founding member/trustee of the Global Island Partnership, the Sea Level Rise Foundation, the Seychelles University Foundation, the Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology, the Island Conservation Society and the Silhouette Foundation. He has also been instrumental in increasing the A United, Distinctive and Sustainable Pacific Society visibility and impact of numerous regional and international organisations such as the International Coral Reef Initiative (co-chair from 2003–2005), the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, and the Interim Coordinator of the Nairobi Convention UNEP Regional Seas Programme.
Recently, Dr Payet has been invited to sit on numerous international conference committees and panels as moderator/speaker on climate change, biodiversity and island issues. Rolph is periodically invited by the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki Moon, to speak at various UN forums, including the UN General Assembly. In 2006, he was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for his work in advancing environment, ocean and climate issues at the global level.
Another winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, Professor Elisabeth Holland - the Director of the Pacific Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) would also be part of the PIDF Summit. She has long been a leader in studies of the global nitrogen cycle and its interactions with the carbon cycle and the Earth System.
In 2007, she was a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She is an author of four of the five IPCC reports and also served as a US, German and now a Fiji representative. With a career spanning more than three decades, Professor Holland is a Leopold scholar and served as a Senior Scientist and Leader of the Biogeosciences Program at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
At the PIDF Second Summit, Professor Holland will co-chair the Parallel Sessions on Green Growth Enables.
President of the Republic of Indonesia His Excellency Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will open the Summit on Thursday June 19 2014.
The interim secretary general of the PIDF, Feleti Teo would be welcoming the participation of such distinguished international leaders in sustainable development.
“For the Pacific, green growth will make sense only if it addresses urgent needs and contributes to the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in particular poverty reduction. In keeping with the PIDF vision of smart growth our search for solutions during the Summit requires that we focus on “getting smart,” Mr Teo said.
“Smart about learning the lessons of complex reforms to tackle difficult political economy questions; Smart about changing the behavior of consumers and firms and the view of societies about what constitutes social success and acceptable behavior; Smart about developing the appropriate financing tools for the private sector, especially small firms, and for the public sector and civil society. The participation of such distinguished experts will contribute vgreatly to the successful outcome of this Second Summit,” he added.
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