Environmental and climate issues dominated the agenda of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen on Thursday in the course of the UN general debate in New York. At a virtual “Food Systems Summit” he advocated sustainable organic agriculture, and a meeting with the climate economist Gernot Wagner was also planned. Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had planned visits to Jewish representatives, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg his early speech at the UN General Assembly.
On Wednesday evening (local time) the presidential office took stock of the bilateral meetings with numerous heads of state from Africa, Asia and Latin America, at which the thematic focus was on combating the Covid pandemic and the climate crisis We can only avert a climate catastrophe if all countries drastically improve their climate measures. The youth must be much more involved in the decision-making process. I fully agree with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, because it is about nothing less than preservation the livelihoods of future generations, “Van der Bellen was quoted as saying by his office.
The Federal President also met the UN Special Envoy for Climate and Finance, Mark Carney, on this subject. “Lately I’ve been more optimistic about it. Two aspects are responsible for this: On the one hand, I see how much young people are involved in the fight against the climate crisis. On the other hand, the economy and the financial world have woken up. They see that they are changing their business models have to change in the medium term in order to survive in the market, “said Van der Bellen.
The conversation with Mark Carney also confirmed this optimism. “Carney, the former governor of the Canadian and later the British central bank, is in close contact with the major financial institutions around the world. The aim is for them to commit themselves to climate neutrality in all of their financial decisions. This will sustainably transform the economy worldwide. See this restructuring the institutes meanwhile also have great opportunities for the future, “emphasized the Federal President.
During the bilateral talks this year there was a special focus on Africa, it was emphasized. “Among other things, I spoke with the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, and the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, about the global imbalance in access to Covid vaccines. Much more needs to be done here. Both countries are making an effort is currently building production capacity. ” In conversation with the newly elected President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, one of the topics was stability and security issues in southern Africa.
“I was particularly pleased to see the President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada. Costa Rica is an anchor of stability in Central America and an incredibly innovative country. It is also a strong partner in the fight against the climate crisis,” said Van der Bellen. Vietnam was one of the few countries in the world that was able to show economic growth of almost three percent in 2020 thanks to good management of the Covid crisis. “Numerous Austrian companies are already active in Vietnam. The task now is to further develop relationships with this partner in Asia, which has almost 100 million inhabitants.”
On Thursday morning (local time) Van der Bellen took part in the virtual “UN Foods Systems Summit” as part of the UN general debate. In his video greeting he referred to the European Green Deal and its “vision of a sustainable, climate-neutral and resource-saving future”. In order to realize this vision, “we have to develop environmentally friendly agriculture and organic farming,” demanded the Federal President.
“We need near-natural solutions and ecosystem approaches – such as organic farming and agro-forestry. We have to support farmers all over the world and the entire food system and enable them to master future challenges,” explained the Federal President, who also has consumers in the Duty took: “We have to make sensible and sustainable decisions, also as consumers when it comes to buying organic products, but also when it comes to avoiding food waste. We can all be part of the solution.”
At lunchtime, the Federal President took a walk through New York’s “Stuyvesant Cove Park”. This is located on a former industrial site, the presidential office outlined the background to the visit: “Today it is home to numerous animal and plant species and also houses ‘Solar 1’ – a” learning center on sustainable energy. “Then there was a conversation with the 1980 in Amstetten-born Austro-American climate economist Gernot Wagner at New York University.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was supposed to give a speech in the “Council on Foreign Relations” around noon. A meeting with Rabbi Arthur Schneier (91) was programmed beforehand. Arthur Schneier, born in Vienna in 1930, survived the Holocaust after he fled Vienna to Budapest in November 1938. In 1947 he emigrated to the USA, became a rabbi and received his doctorate in theology from Yeshiva University in New York City. Since 1962 he has been the religious head of the Park East Synagogue. In 2001 the then US President Bill Clinton awarded him the “Presidential Citizen Medal”; in 2008, Schneier received Pope Benedict XVI in the Park East Synagogue. on his six-day trip to the USA.
Kurz will also meet the President of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald Lauder, and David Harris (American Jewish Committes / AJC) and, together with Foreign Minister Schallenberg, present Austrian citizenship to descendants of Holocaust survivors at the Consulate General. There was also a program change for Schallenberg: His speech to the General Assembly, scheduled for Friday, was brought forward to Thursday evening. The start of the speech was scheduled after 7:00 p.m. (local time).