Déplacement de S.A.S. le Prince Albert II à Davos (Suisse) - Forum économique mondial (25-26 janvier 2018)

S.A.S le Prince Albert II se rend à Davos pour participer à la 48e réunion annuelle du Forum économique mondial, qui réunit du 23 au 26 janvier 2018 des responsables politiques, dirigeants d'entreprise et intellectuels de plus de 110 pays afin d'échanger sur des problématiques urgentes de la planète, notamment dans les domaines de la santé et de l'environnement.
Le 25 janvier 2018 en milieu de journée, l'avion princier se pose à l'aéroport de Saint-Gall-Altenrhein.
S.A.S. le Prince est accompagné de S.E. M. Bernard Fautrier, ministre plénipotentiaire, vice-président et administrateur délégué de la Fondation Prince Albert II, et du lieutenant-colonel Philippe Rebaudengo, Son aide de camp.
Il se rend au Centre de Congrès pour assister à une conférence organisée par le National Geographic sur la préservation des éléphants, en présence de Mme Paula Kahumbu, directrice de WildlifeDirect et porte-parole de la campagne Hands Off Our Elephants lancée en 2014 avec la première dame kenyane Margaret Kenyatta.
Au cours de la session, S.A.S. le Prince prend la parole :
« My thanks to Bronwyn Nielsel and Paula Kahumbu.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,
It is clearly difficult to come after Paula Kahumbu and speak on a subject she knows more about than anyone - a subject that she, more than anyone, has made part of her life, having given so much, done so much, brought so much to the elephant's cause.
So, my first comment on how to save the elephant would be is that we need Paula Kahumbus and individuals with the same dedication and passion.
We need ambassadors who are as eloquent, talented and persuasive as you are!
We must convince as many people as possible, to drum up as much energy as possible in support of the elephant - and, more widely, in support of preservation of biodiversity.
That is the tenor our discussions today : the need to work collectively, to move forward together embracing a shared cause.
This cause is the one of elephants, and, through them, our essential biodiversity, which is throughout the planet under threat.
I would like to remind that, according to the IUCN, 41% of amphibians, 13% of birds and 25% of mammals are at risk of extinction worldwide. And a recent UK study showed that almost 80% of winged insects had disappeared in Europe in a period of 30 years.
Most of these dramas are silent. There may be many of us at present worrying about elephants, but who is concerned over the future of the monk seal in the Mediterranean? Who is worried about the dwindling numbers of lepidoptera? And who is going to take action to save the last of the bald ibis?
In this sense, the elephants play a particularly valuable role as sentinels, because they arouse our attention and our affection. Because they make their presence noticed - and equally, their absence.
The danger that threatens elephants, and likewise other species, stems from the same cause, which is human activities. The cause lies in the customs that still today in some countries attach value to the use of ivory. It also, of course, lies in a tendency to undervalue the lives of other species.
And it lies above all, and this is becoming increasingly clear, in our difficulty in sharing our land - our planet that is common to all species.
In this respect, the conservation of elephants helps us to see the underlying mechanisms that lead humanity to destroy so many species and so many ecosystems that are nonetheless necessary to us.
It also helps us to determine solutions to end this carnage. These solutions do exist, as you indicate, my dear Paula Kahumbu, they are essentially cross-border solutions.
They include, to begin with, the instigation of more favorable global conditions, including greater individual knowledge and awareness, and above all the development of a more sustainable economy, and in particular farming methods that use less land.
There is the fight against poaching, this global scourge, this banditry that thrives at the expense of our common heritage. This is a cause that must bring us together, and I want to pay tribute here to all those heroes who, on the ground, give their time, their energy, and sometimes their lives to this battle that must be continually re-fought.
Unfortunately the fight against poaching will not be enough to save the elephant, unless it goes hand in hand with wider measures.
I refer to even stricter regulations on international trade, or on monitoring and guidance programs based on precise scientific expertise.
There is also the implementation of conservation zones, which are the only real way to enable animal species and human communities to co-exist, by organizing the sharing of resources in a sustainable fashion and by developing appropriate solutions.
These conservation measures prove their effectiveness everywhere, both for terrestrial and for marine species - and I am particularly well acquainted with the case of marine protected areas.
These measures, which we must now develop on a grand scale, enable us to preserve complete ecosystems, and to put in place global solutions, beyond measures aimed at particular species.
This, I believe, is one of the best answers to the risk that I alluded to just now : the risk of choosing to focus on a small number of animals that are more visible, more iconic.
Through them, we should in fact organize a new sharing of nature.
We should not be drawing imaginary boundaries between areas that are to be reserved for humans and others that are to be the province of wildlife. We must allow interaction, exchange, evolution, but always favor the priority on preserving ecosystems and protecting endangered species, on reconciling the development of humankind with that of nature upon which we depend.
It represents a huge task, which requires our energy, our resources, our ability to take decisions and exert our influence. It calls for the political will to innovate. It calls for the economic resources to gain acceptance of restrictions. And it also calls for human resources in monitoring and management.
I believe that it was necessary to stress these points before we begin our discussion.
Thank you! »
S.A.S. le Prince assiste ensuite à des réunions bilatérales avec M. Ray Dalio, président directeur général de Bridgwater and Ocean Exploration, MM. Dipender Saluja et Ion Iadigaroglou, directeurs de Capricorn Investment Group, et M. Badr Jafar, homme d'affaires aux Émirats arabes unis.
Puis le Souverain rejoint l'hôtel Grisha, où Il reçoit en audience M. Peter Thompson, ancien président de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies et envoyé spécial des Nations Unies pour les océans, et M. Justin Mundy, directeur de The Prince's Charities International Sustainability Unit.
Le Souverain assiste ensuite à un dîner organisé par la Norvège en présence notamment du Prince héritier Haakon et de M. Børge Brende, président du World Economic Forum et ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères de Norvège.
Le lendemain matin, Il se rend à une conférence sur les océans Taking actions on oceans et prononce un discours d'ouverture :
« Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,
I would just say how delighted I am to have the opportunity to discuss the issue of the oceans with you today. It is a major issue for all of us, and I would like to thank the organisers of the World Economic Forum for making this meeting possible.
As you know, the seas cover over 70% of the Earth's surface. They play a decisive role in its climate and weather balance. They produce 50% of our oxygen and absorb 25% of our CO2 emissions. And the biodiversity they contain is essential for life on Earth and for our food.
Almost half of the world's population lives in coastal areas. Over 80% of world trade is carried by sea. And, in the future, most of our energy, food and raw materials may come from the sea.
However, today these seas are threatened. Global warming is disrupting our planet's ecosystems. CO2 emissions lead to a growing acidification, which makes many species more vulnerable, pollution threatens biodiversity, plastics pollute the entire food chain, and overfishing destroys species. Due to advances in technology, the exploitation of new resources is causing the pressure on the marine environment to increase continuously.
This is the situation and these are the reasons why there is an urgent need to reconcile humanity with the seas and to take action.
This requires everyone to be mobilised.
Naturally, States have a greater responsibility. They must do more to preserve the seas they are responsible for and take more effective action to avert the threats they face, notably in terms of overexploitation and pollution. They must also promote the emergence of a blue, sustainable economy.
Faced with this kind of challenge, States cannot do everything on their own. Civil societies must also take on their responsibilities. NGOs must step up their efforts, as we do with my Foundation.
Businesses, above all, should harness their resources and their capacity for innovation to support an economy capable of generating growth and profits without impoverishing the seas.
In order to be deployed, all these initiatives require global vision and authority. No authority is more legitimate or more universal than that of the United Nations.
This is the reason why the commitments that have been made, notably within the context of the Sustainable Development Goal 14, are essential.
I am also thinking about a few more major issues that my government and my Foundation are particularly involved in : the issue of the high seas, on which progress is being made. It is a great satisfaction because, more than ever before, there is a need for rules capable of preserving the biodiversity of these vast expanses of water, situated beyond national jurisdiction, which cover half of the Earth's surface and are now vulnerable.
I am also thinking about the development of marine protected areas and that the commitment made to protect over 10% of the globe's marine areas by 2020 will unfortunately not be concretely achieved, when we also know that the scientific community consider this figure to be insufficient.
This is why the appointment of a United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean has brought great hope. I am pleased that Peter Thomson agreed to be based at the Maison des Océans in Paris, an institution created by my greatgreat-grandfather, which has played a major role in helping to increase our knowledge and preservation of the seas for over 100 years now.
I am happy that we can contribute to its actions, which, supported by the legitimacy of the United Nations and by the mobilisation of all our efforts, can help bring about change.
It is something we all need, and it is essential that we can discuss this subject as we are doing today, in order to take specific, coordinated action.
Thank you very much. »
À l'issue de la conférence, S.A.S le Prince et Sa délégation se rendent à l'aéroport de Saint-Gall-Altenrhein.