Today, we face the reality of
an international system that is becoming more complex
by the day. Globalization has created new
opportunities; it has also produced uncertainty and
insecurity. Sudden crises affect the fundamental
sources of our sustenance and progress: food, energy
and financial resources. Terrorism and nuclear
proliferation threaten our security. Climate change has
an impact on the future of our planet. Growing
instability characterizes the energy and financial
markets, widening the gap between rich and poor.
Those global challenges need a timely political
response. A national response would be inadequate and
illusory, for the right response can only be global and
cooperative. A dramatic new vision of global
governance for the twenty-first century requires rules
that all nations can embrace — a new vision based on
three principles: inclusiveness, effectiveness and
shared responsibility.
Effective global governance means a central role
for the United Nations, starting with its most
representative, democratic body, the General Assembly.
Effective global governance means a strong connection
between the United Nations and international
organizations, either universal or regional, such as the
European Union and the African Union. Effective
global governance requires a comprehensive and
consensual reform of the United Nations system,
including the Security Council. To achieve a reform of
this magnitude on the foundations of strong political
support, there is no alternative to general consensus.
We must immediately learn the lessons of the
turmoil in the world financial markets. Promoting
transparent and reliable rules in the marketplace is the
only way to protect our societies from falling prey to
those forces. We have to avoid squandering wealth and
instead ensure that it is distributed equitably among
every component of society. That is the vision that
Italy will promote during its upcoming presidency of
the Group of Eight (G-8). Through a broader dialogue
with the emerging economies and the least developed
countries, the G-8 will contribute to the shaping of a
new system of global governance in which formats will
be tailored to specific issues, leading to a gradual
assumption of shared responsibility.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are
priority challenges. They demand an urgent response, a
mobilization of greater human and financial resources,
new ideas and a true partnership between donor and
beneficiary countries that is fully inclusive of
governments, local organizations, the private sector
and civil society.
Italy is strongly committed to achieving the goals
of defeating hunger, strengthening health-care systems
and making education accessible to all. All this is on
the agenda of the upcoming Italian presidency of the
G-8, and Africa will be at the centre of our attention.
The right place to address the food crisis is the
United Nations, and we must equip the Organization to
tackle it effectively. Italy strongly supports the roles
and functions of the Food and Agriculture
Organization, the World Food Programme, the
International Fund for Agricultural Development and
all the other agencies that help to alleviate hunger and
guarantee food security. We also encourage the direct
involvement of the private sector in bringing
agriculture back to its rightful place at the centre of
economic policies. That will require a global
partnership to increase the flow of investments and
know-how, enhance productivity and contribute to the
development of national agro-industry; a global
partnership that will make a big step towards achieving
the first Millennium Development Goal: to eliminate
extreme poverty and hunger and to improve the lives of
the last billion, that portion of the global population
still on the margins of the world economy. That is,
indeed, an absolute priority.
The year 2009 will be crucial for international
negotiations on climate change. Italy and the European
Union are determined to reach an ambitious post-2012
agreement that includes mitigation and adaptation
measures. The fight against climate change is closely
connected to energy security. We need to promote
greater energy cooperation at the global level. We need
to promote solutions that reconcile the need for secure
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supplies with sustainable energy policies, energy
efficiency and clean energy technologies. We need to
promote research and development of alternative fuel
sources, including renewable and nuclear energy. We
need to promote a comprehensive dialogue between
producing and consuming countries, based on mutual
trust, solidarity, dialogue and cooperation.
Interdependence is the fundamental reality that
binds developed countries and emerging economies,
and in its capacity as the incoming G-8 President, Italy
will promote the energy dialogue and the global
negotiations on climate change.
Effective multilateral cooperation built on shared
responsibility is vital to tackling the main threats to our
safety and security, including terrorism and the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Our
vigilance against terrorism must remain high and our
international cooperation intense. In the next few years
we should work together on a new global pact against
terrorism to be enacted in 2011 on the tenth
anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11.
The protection of human rights and the rule of
law must underpin our action. These values are
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which is as relevant today as it was 60 years
ago. That is why Italy has a long-standing commitment
to a universal moratorium on the death penalty, with a
view to its abolition. And that is also why we are
working to combat impunity and to strengthen the
instruments of international law, including the
International Criminal Court.
The fight against the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction is at the centre of our international
commitment. In preparation for the 2010
Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, Italy is
ready to do its part to strengthen the Non-Proliferation
Treaty, which is of fundamental importance to
preventing and countering proliferation and laying the
foundations for a world free of nuclear weapons. Yet
we must also maintain cooperation on the peaceful use
of nuclear technology, as expressly provided for by the
Treaty. We thus call upon the Iranian Government to
show responsibility by promptly meeting the
conditions for normal negotiations to reassure the
international community and the countries of the
region. Let me say very clearly that we strongly
condemn the Iranian President’s irresponsible remarks
on the State of Israel.
Global security and regional security are very
closely connected. We welcome the positive signals
from the Middle East, such as the continuation of the
negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, the
beginning of a national dialogue among the Lebanese
political forces to fully implement the Doha
agreements, and the new chapter in relations between
Lebanon and Syria.
In Afghanistan, the continuation of the
international commitment should be accompanied by a
gradual assumption of responsibility by the local
authorities and forces and the participation of
neighbouring countries in the stabilization process. In
the Caucasus, the recent crisis indicates the need, there
and elsewhere, to strengthen regional cooperation
mechanisms and prevent a competitive dynamic that
would lead to high costs and low benefits.
More than two hundred years ago a great Italian
political philosopher Cesare Beccaria wrote, “The
greatest happiness of the greatest number is the
foundation of morals and legislation.” True to these
words, so deeply rooted in my country’s democratic
vocation, Italy joins in the common effort to build a
world of peace, security, sustainable development and
a new democratic, transparent and effective global
governance.