President James Michel has received a special award for maintaining environmental safety, accepted on his behalf by Foreign Minister Jean-Paul Adam at an international forum in Cambodia.

The presentation was made last Saturday at the 1st World Eco-Safety Assembly – held at the Unesco World Heritage site of Angkor – by Mendsaikhan Enkhsaikhan, former Prime Minister of Mongolia.

The award for maintaining eco-safety was presented to Mr Michel as recognition of his leadership in the field of the environment and of the long-standing efforts by him and the government to foster sustainable development. 

Other laureates in the eco-safety category included UN under-secretary Anna Tibaijuka and the governments of Maldives and Cambodia.

The Kansas City government in the United States, the Richmond municipal government in Canada and the Chinese city of Guangdong Tanxia were named as international eco-safety demonstrative cities.

The United Nations and more than 70 countries, including Seychelles, support the work of the International Eco-Safety Cooperative Organisation, the main organiser of the event which was attended by more than 500 delegates. Its director-general, Professor Jiang Mingjun, visited Seychelles twice to assess the government’s efforts to address eco-safety issues.
 
The President welcomed the award as recognition of the contribution that Seychelles is making to global sustainability and said the fact that the ceremony was held on the eve of the Cancun negotiations on climate change reminds the world of the importance of the international community giving more support to small islands in the struggle to achieve true sustainability.

“Seychelles and other island states are facing a struggle for existence in the face of climate change. This award highlights how much we have to lose if we do not take concrete steps on climate change,” he said.
In his message to the eco-safety assembly, Mr Michel said the increased economic pressures of the world should not be a barrier to addressing the issue of climate change.

“While the developed world is right to be concerned about troubled economies, the true challenge of sustainability lies in our natural environment,” he said.

“If we cannot save our environment first, eventually there will be no economy to save. This applies as much to the world economy as it does to small islands. The only difference is that islanders see this as part of our daily lives.” 

Both Mr Adam and Ambassador Philippe Le Gall took the floor during the plenary sessions of the assembly to explain Seychelles’ rhetoric-free position on what global warming really means for the international community, and the need to abide strictly and pro-actively by the UN concept of “common and differentiated responsibility”.

Mr Adam read a statement from Mr Michel in which he stressed the challenge of sustainability of island economies, the importance of shared responsibility in finding solutions to climate change, the need to enhance understanding of our natural environment and the need for innovative private-public partnerships to allow technology transfer in the fields of renewable energy.

The Angkor Resolution of the World Eco-Safety Assembly stressed the indelible links between nature, culture and human activity that must be preserved and nurtured sustainably.
 
The resolution also attempted to propose innovative solutions to the question of sustainability as well as climate change, such as new financing practices and enhanced protection for global heritage and the natural environment.

The resolution was adopted during the three-day meeting and will serve as a template for the future work of the International Eco-Safety Cooperative Organisation.

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