Emir: swift action needed for facing major challenges

HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has underlined that the world is currently facing three major challenges the first of which is laxity in respect for the laws and procedures regulating economic and financial activities which led to the decline of social justice within states. The second is the low level of international co-operation against common challenges, which hinder the success of national development in spite of the succession of conferences, while the third challenge is centred on the achievement of the requirements of sustainable development at the national level, foremost of which being the availability of political stability, and development strategies that go in line with the general economic goals, the Emir said. In this respect, HH the Emir stressed that all of these challenges need expedited effective and collective action to make progress regarding those issues and the translation of the Millennium Development Goals into a tangible reality for all, and the formulation and development of new development goals beyond 2015. This came in HH the Emir’s speech before the UN Conference on Sustainable Development ( Rio+20), currently under way in Rio de Janeiro, delivered on his behalf by HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, President-elect of the UN Conference on Climate Change. In reference to the Arab Spring HH the Emir considered that the factors of poverty, unemployment and social marginalisation, corruption and lack of freedom and human rights provoke popular protest and undermine stability which is necessary for growth. HH the Emir said: “This underlines the urgency of social development issues at the heart of all attempts of reform, change and progress and the need to close link between social, economic and environmental development and the citizen’s decent living and secured stability.” Clean energy initiative UN chief Ban Ki-moon yesterday outlined plans at the Rio+20 summit to provide universal access to energy by 2030, with tens of bilion of dollars in funding from business and investors. The initiative aims to ensure universal access to clean and efficient energy for 1.3bn people in more than 50 developing countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Small Island developing states.  It also seeks to double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.