Upon the invitation of former US President Bill Clinton, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo travelled to the United States to deliver a keynote address at the 12th Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting which commenced on Tuesday.
The event addresses a series of global issues, including how the international community can build from last year’s historic Paris Climate Agreement.
President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation have been highly supportive of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), with a team from the Clinton Foundation working with the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the Office of the President during Jagdeo’s presidency.
Jagdeo praised the Clinton Foundation for assisting Guyana, saying the Foundation was an example of modern forms of global partnership which seek to solve big problems.
“The conversations here today are focused on the world’s most pressing issues – things like climate change, global migration, terrorism, stagnating economic growth and youth un-employment. As we listen to each other, we hear again and again about how societies all around the world suffer when leaders move away from evidence-based policy, and instead forge policy through prejudice. In developed and developing countries, we are seeing how intellectually-weak policies are combining with the rise of populist politicians to put development into reverse. The answer to these threats is the reassertion of progressive politics across the world,” he stated.
The Annual Meeting opened with public discussions, including between former President Clinton, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Argentinean Prime Minister Mauricio Macri and the recently-elected Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Prime Minister Renzi made a passionate call for Europe to respond positively to changes in the world, and the Mayor of London spoke of how “progressive politics works.”
Meanwhile, Jagdeo is slated to commence a series of engagements in the USA.
After attending the CGI, Jagdeo moved to a further set of meetings in New York, focused on international plans to address climate change.
According to a statement from his Office, the Paris Climate Agreement is likely to become international law in the coming months after it is ratified by the requisite number of countries, so global leaders are now consulting on how its provisions can be strengthened and global ambition to combat climate change can be increased.
Jagdeo will then travel to the state of Florida, where he has been asked to be the guest speaker at the Eric Williams Memorial Lecture at Florida University in Miami.
Dr Eric Williams was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Memorial Lecture in his honour has seen many world personalities speak, including former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell; former President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda; and former Prime Minister of Jamaica, PJ Patterson. Last year’s speaker was St Vincent and the Grenadines Head of Government, Dr Ralph Gonsalves.
Following the engagement at Florida University, Jagdeo will meet with groups of university students in Florida, and he will also be meeting with members of the Guyanese community in both New York and Florida.
