The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, defended this Thursday that there will be no lasting peace and security in the world if the fight against climate change is not seen as a major challenge of the present.
The head of state spoke at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, at the presentation of the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, awarded in this third edition to the Intergovernmental Scientific Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity is currently chaired by Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Germany, who also spoke at the ceremony, warned of the dangers of climate change and called for concerted action to “avoid an environmental disaster”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who later intervened, believed that “it may seem ironic”, when the world is confronted with the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic and in time of war in Ukraine, awards the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity two institutions related to the fight against climate change.
“But it is not. There is no lasting peace and security if not in a global geopolitics where the priority of climate change and the protection of biodiversity represents the great challenge of our generations. This is the truth of things”defended.
The President of the Republic thanked the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation “the example, another example of pioneering, of a cry for alarm about the future”repeating a statement by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
“We all know that the Secretary-General of the United Nations is right, there is cause for alarm”considered.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, held in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021, was “partly a disappointment”. The next one is scheduled for November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
As for Portugal, he said that “has made a positive and relevant contribution in this area”who was looking for “anticipating the achievement of goals object of national, European and universal commitment” and that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals match “to a regime commitment” that doesn’t change with governments.
“It is a peaceful priority in our country, involving the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity”he added.
In his speech, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recalled former head of state Jorge Sampaio, who chaired the jury of the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, “with nostalgia”, referring to the fact that this word “has not been translated into other languages”.
“With a public life that has also witnessed the defense of cases, with a rare sense of humanity that continues to inspire us, Chancellor Angela Merkel finds a remarkably qualified successor”praised.
Then the head of state Angela Merkel addressed in German for two minutes, stating that her personality precedes this initiative and is of great importance “because of the global humanist dimension” at a time of “fragmentation and intensification of nationalism”.
This Thursday, the President of the Republic received Angela Merkel for lunch at the Palácio de Belém, in Lisbon, and awarded her the degree of Great Necklace of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity was established in 2020 for an amount of one million euros by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation with the aim of distinguishing people, groups of people or organizations that have distinguished themselves in the fight against the climate crisis with original, innovative contributions and with impact. .
In 2021 it was awarded to the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and in the second edition, in 2022, to the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, an alliance of more than 10,000 cities and local authorities from 140 countries, including Portugal.
Source: DN
