Monday, October 19, 2009

Prince Albert II of Monaco to Present Keynote Address for 2009 Antarctica Summit


Prince Albert II of Monaco to Present Keynote Address for 2009 Antarctica Summit: An International Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty

Prince Albert II, the sovereign head of state of the Principality of Monaco, who has made environmental and climate change diplomacy a key factor of his global leadership, executed a month-long visit to Antarctica in January of this year to critically examine the impact of global warming on the South Pole, and founded the Prince Albert II Foundation in 2006 to promote “ sustainable and equitable management of natural resources”=2 0and to encourage “the implementation of innovative and ethical solutions via research and studies, technological innovation and socially responsible investment tools with respect to climate change, biodiversity and water issues,” has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the “Antarctic Treaty Summit:Science-Policy Interactions in International Governance” (“Antarctica Summit 2009”).

The international Antarctica Summit 2009 will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty by the twelve original signatories in 1959, inWashington, D.C. Antarctica Summit 2009 willbe convened at the Smithsonian Institution, and held at the National Museum of Natural History, from 30 November to 3 December, 2009 to, in accordance with the Smithsonian Institution’s website, “ highlight lessons learned about international governance "with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind." Prince Albert received the UN Environment Program’s (UNEP) prestigious Champion of the Earth Award in 2008, and on October 23, 2009, will receive the second Roger Revelle Prize from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, located at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), for his efforts to support and communicate the crucial need to protect the environment on a global scale.” Prince Albert II’s keynote address will be delivered the first day of the summit, Monday, November 30th, after opening ceremonies chaired by Professor Paul Berkman, Chair of the International Board for the Antarctic Treaty Summit, and in collaboration with the day’s events will explore the “origin, evolution and resilience of the Antarctic Treaty System that emerged from the success of the International Geophysical Year” under the theme of “Science as a Tool of Diplomacy in the Antarctic Treaty System.”

Since its signing on December 1, 1959 by the twelve original signatories and its entry into force on June 23, 1961, the Antarctic Treaty has provided an international political tool for the diplomatic management of ten percent of the Earth “for peaceful purposes” and to assist in the arbitration and adjudication of issues related to national claims of sovereignty. The Treaty is one of a number of international agreements which are often referred to as the “Antarctic Treaty System.” The other agreements comprising the “System” are, 1) The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid, 1991), 2) the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS, London, 1972); and 3) the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR, Canberra, 1980). The latter two agreements, though independent, contain provisions committing their Parties to essential parts of the Antarctic Treaty.

According to the Treaty’s Preamble, “The main purpose of the Antarctic Treaty, … is to ensure "in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord." According to the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat’s website, the number of signatory nations to the Treaty has grown from the twelve original signatory nations of Argentina, Australia, Belg ium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Russia, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and the United States to forty-seven. As of December 2007 the other thirty-four treaty signatories included, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Italy, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay and Venezuela. Monaco is the newest addition to the list of signatory nations. It became a signatory last year on 31 May 2008. The UK was the first sovereign state to ratify the Antarctic Treaty.

According to the Antarctic Treaty Summit website: “the Antarctic Treaty Summit: Science-Policy Interactions in International Governance will provide an unique international, interdisciplinary and inclusive forum for scientists, legislators, administrators, lawyers, historians, educators, executives, students and other members of civil society to openly:

Assess lessons learned from the Antarctic Treaty System during the past five decades that have legacy value for international governance in general;
Reveal precedents for cooperative planetary-scale governance from one our civilization’s international spaces (i.e., outer space, deep sea and Antarctica); andEstablish broad public awareness around the world about the visionary goals, strategies and achievements that have emerged20from the Antarctic Treaty “in the interest of all mankind.”

As observed by the eminent polar explorer and scientist, Prof. Laurence Gould, during the Antarctic Treaty ratifications hearings in the United States Senate on 14 June 1960:

“The Antarctic Treaty is indispensable to the world of science which knows no national or other political boundaries, but it is much more than that… it is a document unique in history which may take its place alongside the Magna Carta and other great symbols of man's quest for enlightenment and order.”

The host sponsors of the Antarctic Treaty Summit include the Smithsonian Institution, the the University of California Santa Barbara (Bren School of Environmental Science & Management) and the University of Cambridge (Scott Polar Research Institute) in the United Kingdom. The Summit agenda includes participation by the world’s top U.S. and international experts on Antarctica, including: Ambassador R. Tucker Scully, Former Director, Office of Ocean Affairs, Department of State, and Chair of the 32nd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, United States; Dr. Susan Solomon, Senior Scientist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States and winner of the 2009 Volvo Environment Prize, one of the scientific world’s most respected environmental for mapping the mechanisms underlying the hole in the ozone layer, Professor Mahlon Kennicutt II, President, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), United States, Dr. Karl Erb, Director, Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation, United States, Mr. Jan Huber, Current Executive Secretary, Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, Argentina, Ambassador Jorge Berguño, Council for Antarctic Policy, M inistry of Foreign Affairs, Chile; and Dr. Maj DePoorter, Chair, Antarctic Advisory Committee, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), New Zealand

The Summit will also include a banquet dinner and the presentation of the 2009 Martha Muse Prize for Antarctic Policy and Research by Ms. Renate Rennie, Chairman and President, Tinker Foundation. For more information about the Antarctic Treaty Summit 2009 see the Summit’s website at http://www.atsummit50.aq/ which also includes a section dedicated to the background, history and text of the Antarctic Treaty.


Other websites of interest on the Antarctica Treaty and Antarctica include:
Antarctica Treaty Secretariat
(http://www.ats.aq/)
UNEP/Antarctica (http://www.unep.org/dewa/assessments/EcoSystems/Polar/Antarctica/
British Antarctic Survey
(http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/)
The Antarctican Society (http://www.antarctican.org/), U.S.A.


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Prince Albert II at September 2007 Inauguration of Monaco Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Address of Prince Albert II at September 2007 Inauguration of Embassy of Monaco in Washington, D.C.

Address by H.S.H. Prince Albert II at The Inauguration of the Residencein Washington on September 26, 2007

Mr. Ambassador, Madame, Your Excellencies, Madame Consul General, , distinguished Consuls of Monaco in the United States, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends and dear family members, thank you all for being here. It’s wonderful to see, by your presence, the links between Monaco and the United States.

I’m particularly thrilled to be inaugurating Monaco’s Ambassador’s Residence here in Washington today with you. I’m delighted that Monegasque Diplomacy and Diplomatic Representation are now at an Ambassadorial Level. And I think this is only to highlight my personal commitment and that of the Principality to provide the necessary resources for deeper cooperation between Monaco and the United States.
I’m also moved today because my thoughts are obviously with my parents. Especially with my Mother, since she was both of our countries’ most outstanding Ambassador and bound both of our countries in a very unique way.

As you know, I’m very fond of this country and harbor many happy memories of my early childhood and years after that. Summers with family members, summers at camp. There are a couple of people whom I went to camp with who are in this Embassy today. And of course, studying in Amherst College, then trying to learn some sort of insight and to make some sort of sense of what it means to be in Corporate America. And every time I spend time in this country, it brings back a whole lot of these fond memories. I think America instilled in me an appreciation for entrepreneurship and a deep respect for work as the only way to win. Also, it revealed to me the value of competition, not in order to dominate the other person but to surpass one’s self and find fulfillment. Returning to this land as I do fairly often, I embrace the immensity of its wide open spaces and the richness of a society founded on so many different ethnic origins. The inauguration of this Embassy marks a fresh impetus that I wish to bring to the relations - a long lasting and friendly relation between the Principality of Monaco and the United States of America.

These relations, as you know, were consolidated on December 8 of last year when His Excellency, Ambassador Gilles Noghès, presented his Letters of credence to President Bush. And, five days later, His Excellency Craig Stapleton, the United States Non-Resident Ambassador, handed his Letters of Accreditation to me in the Principality. I had the pleasure of welcoming Ambassador Stapleton back to the Palace just a few days ago and used that opportunity to take another look at issues of common interests to both our Countries. Our mutual Ambassadors constitute a very visible expression of the close links that bind us.

I would also like to take this opportunity to salute the valuable work carried out by Mrs. Maguy Maccario-Doyle, who is our Consul General in New York City, and the equally indispensable efforts of the Principality’s six Honorary Consuls. Most of them are here today. It’s a real pleasure for me to see them again and to be able to keep up with their great work and I salute them and urge them to keep on going on that track.

Monaco shares the ideals and concerns of the United States, this I think you are all well aware of. Joining with the international community and the American government we will do everything possible to bring our efforts to the fight against terrorism in all its forms. A joint agreement pertaining to the proceeds of crime and the confiscation of goods signed by the Government of Monaco and the US government on the twenty fourth of March of this year bears witness to this.
Our American friends know that they will always receive a particularly warm welcome in the Principality and the image I would like you all and like our American friends to take away from Monaco is that of a Country that may be small in size but is driven by an unsuspected capacity to rise to challenge. It is inspired by the same values of freedom.

And we also remain open as our American friends do, to the great issues of our time. At the forefront of these issues, I think you know my commitment to the environment. And, as you know, not only has Monaco over the past ten years done tremendous efforts in terms of cooperation with other countries on environmental projects, but I felt it was time for me to do more. And so that’s why I set up in June of last year my own Foundation solely devoted to the environment.

We have three main areas that we have concentrated on, that is: the protection of biodiversity, the studies on climate change and on new energies, and also on the excruciatingly serious concerns about water and about water management. And so, with this new Foundation, we are working currently on 30 different projects that have been approved by our Scientific Board and by the Board of Trustees. We have decided to expand and to have satellite committees in different countries.

I am delighted to say that there will be a Prince of Albert II Monaco Foundation arm in the United States. I am very grateful and pleased that my cousin, John Kelly, has accepted to chair this group. And so, this arm of the Foundation will be happy to work with different entities in this country.

Thanks to Monaco’s Embassy in Washington, our two countries will now become still greater friends, building on the close links that we have already nurtured together. I think Isaac Newton said many years ago that, “man builds more walls than he does bridges.” I believe that both of our countries have been fortunate to build many bridges of friendship over the years. Let’s hope by working together that we will not only keep these bridges strong, that we’ll keep them open for ever.
Thank you very much.