President Figueres launched the first "One Laptop per Child" Project in Europe, which will be implemented by the Maimona Foundation in the community of Los Santos de Maimona, Extremadura, Spain. This project is being launched in close cooperation with the "One Laptop per Child Foundation", established by Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the Media Lab (MIT). The objective is to provide every child between the ages of 6 and 12 years with an XO Laptop to enrich their educational experience.
This activity took place during the inauguration of the 4th Technology Fair of Extremadura, event at which President Figueres also delivered the keynote address on how the Information Society can deliver tangible benefits to citizens.
Vídeos:
La Comunidad de Maimona:
Nicholas Negroponte para Los Santos de Maimona sobre el Proyecto XO:
Jose Maria Figueres sobre la Sociedad Informatizada en Extremadura:
Costa Rica Exports 1,000,000 tons of carbon fixed, April 1998
President Figueres travelled to Hong Kong,
Beijing, and Shanghai, for a series of meetings with global
corporations. China’s economic growth is responsible
for 70% of new global oil demand. Because energy is responsible
for about 60% of total global emissions, this year China will
also surpass the United States as the largest carbon emitting
nation. These characteristics also generate a huge potential
for carbon mitigating projects, condition which is already
attracting much attention from relevant players in the global
carbon offset market.
During President Figueres’ administration (1994-1998),
Costa Rica passed a first ever tax on carbon emissions, and
pioneered the carbon trading system by certifying and exporting
a first one million tons of carbon fixed. Jose Maria has always
believed carbon trading mechanisms are a good market solution
which can help lower overall global carbon emissions, and
therefore should be included in a post-Kyoto agreement between
nations to deal with the important challenge of Climate Change.
13 March
At the World Biofuels Markets conference
in Brussels, Jose Maria Figueres participated in the Opening
Keynote Session entitled “Global Markets, Global Industry”.
The other discussion leaders included Commissioner Mariann
Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural
Development, Lord Oxburgh, former Chairman of Shell and Chairman
of D1 Oils, and Nicolas Denis, Associate Principal, Biofuels
and Industrial Biotech Practice at McKinsey & Company.
The session was moderated by Tim Sebastian, the former presenter
of BBC HardTalk.
During his speech, President Figueres highlighted the global
energy scenario and the importance of moving towards sustainable
energy consumption patterns, in the face of increased consumption
coming both from population increase and development of nations
around the world. Bio-fuels, especially of the second generation,
can become a relevant component of an ‘energy production
mix’ to produce the amount of energy the world needs
while at the same time producing less carbon emissions.
From the 25th of February to the 7th of
March, José María Figueres will lead the inaugural
National Projects Climate Fellowship team on a tour to study
the effects of climate change at the Arctic’s edge in
Northern Canada. Accompanying Mr. Figueres, the fellowship
team consists of prominent members of the Arab Community.
The fellows will join an Earthwatch Institute research team
to study the impact of global climate change. While in the
Arctic, Figueres will give frequent reports in his “blog
from the Arctic”.
The Spanish Council of Ministers has decided
to grant Spanish citizenship to President Jose Maria Figueres,
effective on 22 February. Mr. Figueres wishes to express his
gratitude and feels honoured by this decision. Having Spanish
grandparents, Mr. Figueres celebrates being closer to his
family roots. Thanks to this decision made by the Spanish
government, President Figueres will enjoy the double Spanish-Costa
Rican citizenship, established by the existing bilateral agreement
between both countries.
The third meeting of the Global Leadership
for Climate Action (GLCA) taskforce, of which President Figueres
is a member, was held in the principality of Monaco on 20-21st
of February. The meeting also included a presentation of the
GLCA findings to the UNEP 10th Special Session of the Governing
Council and Global Ministerial Environment Forum. At the Special
Session the Prince Albert II Foundation, the UN Foundation
and the Club de Madrid signed an agreement to commit to urgent
and concerted action to address climate change.
The GLCA, a multi-stakeholder coalition of world leaders,
including former heads of state and government as well as
leaders from business, government and civil society from more
than 20 countries, released in 2007 a comprehensive framework
of recommendations to reach a global climate change agreement
after 2012 and decrease carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. The
recommendations were initially presented by GLCA co-chairs
former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and former U.S. Senator
Timothy E. Wirth at the G-8’s Gleneagles Dialogue on
Climate Change in Berlin last September. The GLCA recommendations
recognize that climate change presents a tremendous opportunity
to spur the development of low-cost, low-carbon technologies
that will create new jobs and economic growth.
As a member of the Advisory Board of DARA’s
Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), Jose Maria Figueres moderated
a DARA organized multi-stakeholder workshop in Geneva with
donors, NGOs and representatives of international organisations.
The workshop aimed to disseminate information about the HRI
and integrate the contributions made by the different humanitarian
actors to further strengthen the methodology of the Index.
The Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), is the first instrument
in the world to measure the individual performance of humanitarian
donors. The HRI focuses on the members of the OECD Development
Assistance Committee (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States,
and the European Commission) contrasting their performance
with that established in the Principles of Good Humanitarian
Donorship, defined and approved by the donors.
During President Figueres’s recent
visit to Dubai, he was interviewed by CNBC World's "Business
Arabia” host, Nadine Hawa, on how to mitigate Climate
Change in the Gulf region. They also discussed his participation
in the forthcoming National Projects Holding Company of Kuwait’s
expedition to the Arctic to study the affects of Climate Change
on the Arctic’s edge. The entire interview is available
below.
Part 1:
Part 2:
30 January - 1 February
Troika Dialog, Russia's largest Financial
Brokerage firm, organised "The Russia Forum", in
Moscow, to discuss Russia's global position and future perspectives.
Over 1,000 participants, mainly from the financial community
around the world, attended the event.
The inaugural session discussed "Russia in the Global
Marketplace", and President Figueres participated as
one of the discussion leaders. Other discussion leaders included
Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor
(1998-2005); Carlos Gohn, President and CEO of Renault, Nissan;
Yegor Gaidar, Director of the Institute for the Economy in
Transition; and David Nadler, Vice Chairman Marsh & McLennan
Companies Inc.
On the occasion of the Lehman Brothers
- Harvard Business Review Global Insight Lecture on 21-22
January, which was inaugurated by Jose Manuel Barroso, European
Commission President, José Maria Figueres delivered
the closing address on 22 January.
