“One billion hungry people – one in five people without access to electricity – nearly 80 million young people out of work – 67 million children not in primary school – pervasive poverty – egregious disparities in access to sanitation and adequate health care. “This is not equitable. It is not sustainable. Nor can we live with deteriorating ecosystems. Science tells us that we are approaching, and increasingly over-stepping certain planetary boundaries. This, too, is not sustainable,” UNSG Ban told the Fifth Meeting of his High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability. (Photo Above & Names of Members Below). Read: - “Income Gap Highest in 30+Years” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/income-gap-highest-in-30-years-us-on-more-extreme-by-ambassador-mo/42339 The 21-member panel co-chaired by Presidents Tarja Halonen of Finland and Jacob Zuma of South Africa is due to provide its report next month after 16 months of work. It is tasked with finding ways to lift people out of poverty while tackling climate change and ensuring that economic development is environmentally friendly. (Read: -“Global Recession: Best of Times, Worst of Times” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/global-recession-best-of-times-worst-of-times-by-ambassador-mo/36338). Ban indicated that the panel’s report will affect the debate before and during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil in June next year. “All the issues that will be on the table in Rio – climate change, demographics, water, food, energy, global health, women’s empowerment – are intertwined. And all the pillars that underpin the Rio process – stabilizing the global economy, safeguarding the environment, and ensuring social equity – are parts of a single agenda. We cannot make progress in one without progress in the others. At Rio the world should act on this fundamental understanding,” he stressed, adding that the current economic crisis should not be an excuse for inaction. (Read: - “Green Economy Real & Sustainable” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/green-economy-real-sustainable-by-ambassador-mo/42129 By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey Facebook – Become a Fan at “Diplomatically Incorrect”

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 International Financial Crisis Channel - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/c/international-financial-crisis PHOTO Above - High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability Meets at UN Headquarters The members of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability, co-chaired by Tarja Halonen (front, sixth from left), President of Finland, and Jacob Zuma (front, fourth from right), President of the Republic of South Africa, pose for a group photo at UN Headquarters. Pictured front row, from left: Connie Hedegaard, European Union Commissioner for Climate Action; Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of the Swiss Confederation for 2011 and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland; Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Rural Development of India; Izabella Monica Vieira Teixeira, Minister of Environment of Brazil; Kevin Rudd, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia; Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey; Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation of Sweden; James Laurence Balsillie, Chair of the Board of Canada’s Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). Back row, from left: Alexander Bedritsky, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation and Special Envoy for Climate Change; Hajiya Amina Az-Zubair, Senior Special Assistant/Advisor to the President of Nigeria on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Han Seung-soo, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI); Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados; Yukio Hatoyama, Member of the House of Representatives of Japan; Gro Harlem Brundtland, Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development; Julia Carabias, Environmentalist and former Secretary of the Environment of Mexico; Janos Pasztor, Director of the Secretary-General's Climate Change Support Team; Cristina Narbona Ruiz, Spanish Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and former Minister of Environment of Spain; Zheng Guoguang, Administrator of the China Meteorological Administration.