This morning, like all
other members of the Assembly, I listened with great
interest to President Obama’s statement. The President
spoke from the heart with great idealism and called
upon all of us to shoulder our common responsibility to
secure the future of the world by bringing about real
change. He expressed feelings, hopes and goals that I
share and that I also intended to express here.
However, since he said those things so well, I shall
forgo that part of my statement and confine myself to
reporting on the outcomes of the L’Aquila summit of
the Group of Eight (G-8), over which I had the honour
to preside.
The L’Aquila summit brought together in that
grief-stricken city the representatives of 28 countries
representing more than 80 per cent of the global
economy. Our first order of business was to continue
the work being done on banking and financial market
regulations, which will again occupy us in two days’
09-52179 50
time at the Pittsburgh summit. We believed it crucial to
ensure solid and lasting growth. Economic activity
must once again be based on the principles of equity
and transparency. The new development model should
also be based on open markets and a rejection of
protectionism so that the poorest countries can benefit
fully from the growth opportunities provided by
international trade.
After L’Aquila, we decided to revive the Doha
negotiations with a view to concluding them by 2010.
Our trade ministers have already met in India to
provide practical follow-up to that decision. Pittsburgh
will be an important opportunity to reaffirm the
political commitments undertaken at L’Aquila.
Progress was also made in the area of climate
change. The major economies reached an agreement to
limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-
industrial levels. The common front to combat climate
change was reaffirmed by the broad participation in the
meeting held here yesterday at the initiative of the
Secretary-General. I thank him for the leadership that
he demonstrated on that occasion — a quality so
essential to the success of the Copenhagen summit.
L’Aquila reaffirmed a clear and fundamental
concept that I wish to reiterate today. Overcoming the
challenge of climate change will require commitment
on the part of all actors in the global economy, without
exception.
In the area of food security, we decided to
establish a $20-billion fund for agricultural
development and the fight against world hunger. The
effort to restore agriculture’s place at the heart of the
international agenda is a common thread running
through the G-8 summit, the Pittsburgh summit of the
Group of 20 (G-20) and the food security summit that
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations will host in Rome in November.
Too often in the past, the financial assistance
allocated to developing countries has failed to reach
those for whom it was intended. That is why we have
decided that such financing should be invested in the
implementation of concrete projects primarily targeting
agricultural infrastructure. The beneficiary countries
must also do their part. If it is to be effective,
assistance should be directed only to those countries
that promote democracy, are committed to good
governance, respect human rights and protect women
and children.
Finally, we discussed the need to firmly counter
stock-market speculation and the manipulation of the
energy, commodities and food resource markets. This
is of the utmost importance. Speculation in food
products — wheat, rice and soy — has led to serious
crises, in particular on the African continent, where the
elderly and children have been dying of starvation. In
turn, dramatic fluctuations in oil prices have
contributed to financial and economic instability. Why?
Because the price of crude oil has risen from $70 to
$150 a barrel, only to drop to $32 dollars and then
bounce back to $70, despite a nearly 2 per cent
decrease in world consumption over the past year. We
know only too well that such fluctuations are caused by
speculation, whereby a barrel of oil is bought and sold
four to six times before it reaches the end user. And it
is precisely the interest of speculators that drives up the
price of a barrel.
Thus, it is an absolute priority that the futures
market be more strictly regulated. In our view, we
should also consider a global system of strategic
commodity reserves in order to nip in the bud any
speculative tendencies. Impartial specialized agencies,
such as those of the United Nations, should also be
empowered. Finally, the fight against speculation must
also ultimately include the abolition of tax havens.
Much has been done to eliminate existing havens, but
we must also strengthen the monitoring role of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in
order to fight attempts to create new ones.
In a nutshell, those are the main outcomes of the
L’Aquila summit. The crisis from which we are
emerging makes it incumbent upon all of us to address
the issue of effective governance. The G-8 still has a
major role to play in geopolitical, non-proliferation and
development issues, as confirmed at L’Aquila.
Together with the G-20, which is now developing
alongside it, we need to coordinate our actions to
tackle global economic governance and open it up to
all major countries wishing to contribute. In doing so,
we must, of course, respect the central role of the
United Nations, beginning with its most representative
organ, the General Assembly.
As for the United Nations, we must also reform
the Security Council to make it more effective and
representative. Let me strike a note of caution,
however. Adding new national permanent members
would simply increase the sense of exclusion of all
countries that contribute actively to international peace
51 09-52179
and security and of those that could assume growing
responsibilities in the future.
Finally, during the past century, the international
community faced even more tragic crises than it does
today. History shows that no crisis is insurmountable,
but we must be positive, resolute and, above all,
united. As President Obama recalled this morning, we
are all going to have to roll up our sleeves. That is the
key message sent from L’Aquila. Only through
common commitment will we be able to restore the
consumer confidence that is so indispensable to a
renewal of spending and investment. Only through
common action will we be able to overcome a crisis
whose roots lie also in the psychological soil of fear as
the determining factor.
If we are willing and able to do this together, our
efforts will be successful and we will manage to limit
the depth and the duration of the crisis. I have no doubt
that we will succeed. I am absolutely sure of that.
I thank representatives for their attention, and
offer my best wishes for their work.