Annan Will Start African Foundation With Million Dollar Zayed Prize

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, February 7, 2006 (ENS) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says he will use the $1 million Zayed International Global Leadership Prize for the Environment he received last night to establish a foundation to work in Africa for agriculture and girls’ education. "I can think of no better use of the funds bestowed by this generous prize than devoting them to the cause of sustainable development," Annan said.

"Agriculture, because Africa’s people need a green revolution. And girls’ education, because there is no more effective tool for development," said Annan, accepting the prize at a ceremony in Dubai at opening of the 9th Special Session of the UN Environment Programme Governing Council meeting and Global Ministerial Environment Forum.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (right) receives the Zayed Prize from His Highness General Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum vice president and prime minister of the UAE and the ruler of Dubai. (Photo courtesy UNEP)

In the heart of the world’s oil region, Annan used his acceptance speech to call for "urgent" action to avert climate change, saying, "The carbon-based economy is like an uncontrolled experiment with the global climate, with serious risks for ecosystems, business and human health. We must cut emissions. But we must also help the poorest of the poor and the vulnerable adapt to the climate change that is already under way."

He urged all countries to take seriously the upcoming climate change talks that will take place on two "parallel tracks." On one hand, the parties to the Kyoto Protocol will negotiate binding targets for the industrialized countries beyond 2012, when the current commitment period for reducing greenhouse gases expires.

On the other, all parties to the wider UN Climate Change Convention will look at a broader range of cooperative action, involving technology, adaptation and voluntary action by developing countries, Annan said.

"Sustainable development will not succeed without caring for and conserving the world’s natural capital. That understanding lies at the heart of the United Nations’ global mission of peace and development," the secretary-general said.

"Yet all too often, the environment has been viewed as a domain of limitless bounty - a realm over which humans could exercise heedless dominion. And protecting the environment has been considered an afterthought, or even a luxury. Again and again, from antiquity to the modern era, humankind has been shown the folly of such assumptions," he said.

(From left) Mrs. Nan Annan, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and General Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the awards ceremony (Photo courtesy UNEP)

Annan concluded his acceptance speech by addressing the anger felt by many Muslims about the recent publication of caricatures which they see as insulting to their religion.

"I understand, and share, their anguish. But it cannot justify violence, least of all attacks on innocent people," Annan told the distinguished audience, which included Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, as well as Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesian environment minister and president of the UNEP Governing Council.

The issue centers on 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad, which had initially been published in a Danish daily newspaper last September, and which were reprinted recently in several other European papers.

The publications touched off anger across the Islamic world, as any depiction of the prophet, favorable or otherwise, is considered blasphemous by most Muslims.

Violent protests have erupted in Syria and Lebanon, where angry demonstrators torched Danish and Norwegian missions. In the Iranian capital Tehran, hundreds of angry protestors threw stones and firebombs at the Danish embassy on Monday, hours after a similar attack on the Austrian embassy.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has apologized several times while speaking for press freedom - other European leaders have upheld freedom of the press.

Annan appealed to Muslims "to accept the apology that has been offered, and to act as I am sure Almighty God, who is compassionate and merciful, would wish them to do – that is, to act with calm and dignity, to forgive the wrong they have suffered, and to seek peace rather than conflict."

He urged "all who have authority or influence in different communities, both religious and secular, and men and women of goodwill in all faiths and communities, to engage in dialogue and build a true alliance of civilizations, founded on mutual respect."

Winners of the two other Zayed awards also were on hand to accept their prizes.

The 2nd Category Award for Scientific and or Technological Achievement in Environment was awarded to the 1,360 experts of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment which has catalogued the condition of the planet’s ecosystems and their life-giving services.

In their citation the International Jury says that the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is a “landmark study" that "underlines the economic importance of natural or nature’s capital and demonstrates that the degradation of ecosystems is progressing at an alarming and unsustainable rate."

The 3rd Category Award for Environmental Action Leading to Positive Change in Society is jointly shared between two awardees.

Angela Cropper is co-president of the Cropper Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago and a co-chair of the Assessment Panel of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

And Emil Salim is the former Indonesian State Minister for Population and the Environment is the chair of the board of trustees for numerous Indonesian environmental organizations.

Among the most prestigious environment awards in the world.Previous Zayed Prize Global Leadership winners have been Jimmy Carter, the former President of the United States, and the British Broadcasting Corporation for their global media commitment to environment and sustainable development issues.

Find out more about the Zayed Prize online at: http://www.zayedprize.org.ae/en/default.aspx