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On April 27-29 the Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development held its 10th Anniversary meeting in Bellagio, Como. The meeting featured high level speakers from around the world and, with more than 60 attendees, was the largest gathering of the Forum members and guests to date.  Download the Full Meeting Summary.
Keynote Address: Peter Goldmark
As Former Rockefeller Foundation President and former Chief Editor of the International Herlad Tribune and currently director of Climate Policy at Environmental Defense, Peter Goldmark has worked in all of the key sectors that are the focus of the Bellagio Forum. Setting the tone for the meeting and true to his reputation, Goldmark did not shirk from challenging the Forum members to take bold action; to use their collective resources to tackle those pivotal issues that require partnerships to address properly. He listed several specific suggestions ranging from identifying corporations for partnerships to help those companies make their operations more environmentally and socially friendly, to the pooling of resources to provide scholarships for young people both in the developed and developing world to concentrate specifically on sustainable development. He also challenged foundations to invest their part of their endowments in more pro-actively sustainable fashion. On this challenge Goldmark wager the audience that sustainable managed assets would not be the worst performer in any foundation’s portfolio in five years time. To read more about Peter Goldmark’s remarks click here:
To download a clip of Goldmark at the BFSD meeting click here: Chinese Coal Sustainable Investment Opening Plenary
The first panel session was dedicated to some of the original founding members of the Forum. Reuters Society’s Stephen Somerville chaired the session which included Charles Buchanan from the Luso-American Foundation, first BFSD executive director, Michael Hanssler, and Rockefeller President and the founding of the Forum, Peter Goldmark. The panelists reflected on the original vision and mission of the Forum, some of the most important projects as well as their views on the future role the Bellagio Forum should play to make a positive difference in the sustainable development agenda. Founding member and first BFSD chair Buchanan explained, “The initial objectives of the Bellagio Forum were to create partnerships among foundations to carry out actions in collaboration, to build trust and attack the most challenging issues they could identify. Today the group is larger and the way we perceive the challenges a bit different, but this remains a key strength of the Forum.” Read more about the opening plenary here: Plenary Session: ‘Foundations as Change Leaders: managing the consequences of a shrinking world’
In a panel featuring Kurt Hoffman, Måns Loennroth and William Day and chaired by R. Andreas Kraemer, the focus was clearly on the role foundations – public, private and corporate, could and must play in catalyzing the positive and mitigating the negative forces of globalization. Day identified the challenges faced as a result of the much less clearly defined categories and geography between different sectors and types of organizations. Moreover, he noted the need to harness the positive potential of effective business models in poorer regions. This could only be done, however, through partnerships with a variety of organizations that combine the resources of large organizations with the legitimacy of local NGOs, “It is all about trust,” said Day. Kurt Hoffman, in turn, questioned the efficiency, or lack thereof, of foundations as they distribute their considerable resources. He noted that the agendas often set in the rich world do not necessarily address the needs of those who they are meant to help. Moreover, incentives of satisfying customers and creating scalable models are lacking with foundation work and therefore lead to less effective grant-making. Asking the question, “Are you delivering a product that people need and want?”, Hoffman challenged foundations to better understand supply and demand mechanisms where they work and the open themselves up more to the “drivers of change.” MISTRA’s Måns Loennroth concentrated on the capacity of foundations to make the fundamental changes needed in “this second round of globalization.” The first big foundations tried to establish “respectability” for their (often unscrupulous) founders such as John D. Rockefeller. The philanthropists of the post-WWII world; however are often more open to a less traditional view. Loennroth views one the greatest opportunity and challenge is for foundations to use the “other 95%” of their assets as part of their mission. Foundations must look very closely at how they manage their assets and align them with their missions. Read more about the this plenary session here: Keynote Address: Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland, pointed to the importance of finding ways to deepen the communication and bridge the language between those committed to addressing issues of the environment and those who are addressing human rights challenges. “The overlap is quite significant but not yet necessarily the shared language and values,” said Robinson. “I think that your [Bellagio] Forum can be part of the bridging of that gap.” To read more about Mary Robinson’s remarks click here:
To download a clip of Robinson at the BFSD meeting click here: Keynote Address: Klaus Toepfer
Klaus Toepfer, former Under-Secretary-General of the UN and former Executive Director of the UNEP, encouraged participants to imagine the world as it will be for their grandchildren. Toepfer spoke of the important role individuals as well as foundations must play in fostering this change and the significant challenges of posed by the forces of globalization. “If we want to have globalization for our markets,” explained Toepfer, “we need to have a system that assures the sustainability of our societies. This is not just an add-on, it is a pre-condition. Globalization comes to an end if we can not integrate all members of society into the process.” To read more about Klaus Toepfer’s remarks click here:
To download a clip of Klaus Toepfer at the BFSD meeting click here (coming soon): Plenary Session: ‘Foundations as Change Leaders: a sober look at the sustainability of global trade and the role foundations have played in shaping the debate and outcome’
The first plenary session on the morning of April 28 focused on one of the most controversial aspects of globalization: trade. In this session chaired by R. Andreas Kraemer, Michael Conroy and Laurence Tubiana gave their views on some of the major successes they felt foundations have achieved and several of the important problems that the current global trade regime poses to sustainable global development. Conroy’s remarks had three major themes: 1. that trade, as both a positive and negative aspect of sustainable development, poses some contradictory challenges; 2. A pure focus on trade issues is unlikely to solve any of the related problems and 3. multi-sectoral collaborative efforts, like those the Bellagio Forum tries to foster, may have inherent structural elements that make it extremely difficult to effectively implement. Conroy identified a major success of the foundation community in the refusal of developing nations to acquiesce to rich nations agendas without compensatory concessions that would benefit the developing world. “Foundations have funded those who helped southern countries come up with better positions,” said Conroy. Laurence Tubiana addressed the relationships between trade and justice, trade and democracy, global governance and the importance of some new actors on the global stage. She criticized those individuals and organizations that promote trade as a “silver bullet” for the ills of development. The social pressures created by the freer movement of goods and services, whether perceived or real, endanger the social fabric that allowed such a system to be created in the first place. Tubiana called for a rethinking of the trade governance regime that had been in place since WWII. To read more about the Trade Plenary click here: Keynote Address: Cole Wilbur
Cole Wilbur, Trustee and former President of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, stressed the importance of researching problems in order to provide strategic and systemic solutions. As an example, Wilbur described his foundations efforts to improve health, livelihoods and the environment in Asia. He also stressed the extreme import of including China as a fundamental part of any solution to global challenges. To read more about Cole Wilbur’s remarks click here:
To download a clip of Cole Wilbur at the BFSD meeting click here (coming soon): The Bellagio Commitment
The Bellagio Forum began drafting a set of principles for foundations, to be known as “the Bellagio Commitment.” The document is intended to provide a measurable set of principles for endowed foundations and their partners. The Bellagio Commitment was presented as a draft to members and guests on April 27. Divided in several groups, each participant had the chance to provide their input into the document. Based on input from guests and members, “The Bellagio Commitment” will be finalized and presented to the foundation world in the second half of 2006. The Forum is interested in input from other foundations. If you represent a foundation and would like to comment on the Bellagio Commitment, please request a copy from: info@bfsd.org Keynote Address: Bjorn Stigson
On the island of Comacina, participants gathered to hear the keynote address of Björn Stigson, World Business Council for Sustainable Development President. Stigson stressed that trust is essential for taking the necessary risks to make progress. He pondered the obstacles to taking the bold and controversial steps required to solve the long-term problems we face. In relation to the current path along which the global economy is headed, Stigson quoted a Chinese proverb stating, “If we don't change the direction we're going, we're likely to end up where we are headed.” Changing direction, requires multi-sectoral partnerships. Corporations, he noted, have significant resources but lack the public trust and that non-governmental organizations often have considerable reserves of trust but lack the resources. Based on this dichotomy, Stigson questioned what steps would be necessary to harness both of these necessary elements to establish productive relationships and collaborative partnerships. To read more about Bjorn Stigson’s remarks click here:
To download a clip of Bjorn Stigson at the BFSD meeting click here (coming soon): |
