Mexico

 

A Successful 2010 IDB-IIC Annual Meeting
By Texcoco News Group (Originally in Spanish)

 
Ms. Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland
Ms. Gudrun Kopp, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

[Cancun] From March 19 to 23, Golden Year 7 (2010), the Annual Meeting for the board of governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) took place in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. IDB is an organization dedicated to supporting the efforts of Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce poverty and inequality, as well as achieve sustainable and environmental-friendly development.

Invited speakers included Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); Dr. Mario Molina, a leading Mexican scientist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry; Ms. Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland; Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change; Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico; and Mr. Eduardo Braga, Governor of the State of Amazonas, Brazil. Many of them addressed the important climate change issue and recommended solutions based on their expertise and research. One they agreed on is that a change in consumption habits on the individual level would play a crucial role in environmental protection.

Dr. Pachauri stressed the importance of adopting an animal-free diet to amend the destruction caused by global warming. He said, “I support the idea of Meatless Monday," and further listed the benefits of implementing this program in many places. He would like to see Mexico be the hosting country for the 16th Conference of Parties (COP) and show the world that it is possible to have economic development as well as care about Mother Nature at the same time.

At the venue, our Association members distributed hundreds of press packages that included a collection of reports highlighting many aspects of the climate change crisis and an affordable, fast-acting solution, SOS flyers and DVDs, as well as The Noble Wilds to all the attendees plus the international and national media. May God’s love and blessings continue to work through the leaders of the world so that humankind will soon heed the message of cherishing the Earth’s resources and all of its co-inhabitants to save the planet.