5 April 2008
The Prime Minister, global leaders, senior politicians and policy makers from countries across the world are tackling some of the major issues of our time at the Progressive Governance Summit today.
Read the transcript
[I have inserted Speaker where it was not possible to ascertain the name of the Head of Government concerned]
Prime Minister:
Thank you very much for joining us. It has been a great privilege for me to host here in Britain today’s Progressive Governance Summit and to have such a number of world leaders who have been able to be with us, leaders of the institutions as well as leaders of governments in different countries, and we have concluded that this is a moment of opportunity for both the world economy and for our global society that the time is ripe for reform in our international institutions and that some of these reforms are urgent.
The Summit has provided a unique opportunity for policy makers and politicians to discuss and debate the way that governments and international institutions can co-operate in providing greater effective international co-operation across nations and across international institutions. We have decided that globalisation will work best if an open and flexible globalisation is matched by policies that mean it is inclusive and that all, and not just some, benefit from its results.
We have agreed that there should be radical reform of international institutions so that they are better able to meet the new challenges, we have agreed that global rules and standards are necessary for managing the global financial turbulence to restore stability and ensure transparency, we have discussed how the IMF might become a better early warning system for the world economy. We agreed also that a trade deal is urgent, one that will boost the world economy and help the poorest countries and we believe it must include measures that provide aid-for-trade for those countries that can benefit as trade is opened up. We discussed action on food prices to address both supply and demand in the supply of food so that gains on development and aid are not reversed.
We need a world climate deal that creates a global carbon market and mobilises new resource flows for the poor to help them with clean technology and we discussed in detail proposals for the targets in the global deal, discussed new incentives like the creation of a global carbon market, discussed how we could encourage adaptation and afforestation in some of the world’s poorest areas and how the international institutions could be more effective - like the World Bank and the IMF - at providing resources for countries that are making environmental changes.
We have supported the call for action so that the Millennium Development Goals can be made. We need a new effort to tackle poverty in the run up to the special UN summit in September, we want new action to get children into school, to cut deaths from malaria and from HIV Aids and to recruit millions of health workers and we want to see action in all these areas that will reduce the inequalities between rich and poor nations.
We have agreed that a Progressive Governance Summit should be held next year as well. We have responded to the invitation from the President of Chile that there be a Progressive Governance Summit there, the attendance of world leaders, the numbers of people wishing to participate in the Summit, the over-subscribed numbers for yesterday’s session and today emphasises that there is a huge reservoir of support for what we are trying to achieve and we will continue to move that forward in the years to come.
Thank you very much, and we are happy to take any questions.
Question (BBC News):
There were reports today that President Sarkozy could boycott the Olympics unless China opens talks with the Dalai Lama. What is the position of all the world leaders here on this, and Prime Minister Brown there is increased pressure on you not to welcome the torch in London tomorrow. Why are you refusing to change your mind.
Prime Minister:
Any violence in China is to be condemned and I do urge restraint all round. It is important that we recognise that the tensions between those in Tibet and the Chinese authorities can only in the end be solved by dialogue and we would support and encourage dialogue between the Chinese authorities and those who are supporters of the Dalai Lama. It is important to recognise that the Dalai Lama has said explicitly that he does not support full independence for Tibet. It is also important to recognise that he has condemned violence from his supporters, and I think it is also important to recognise, when you ask the question about the Olympic torch, that the Dalai Lama himself has said that he does not want to see a boycott of the Olympics and that is why I have said, as the host country for the 2012 Olympics that is coming up that I will attend the Olympics as I know many others will do.
Question (ITV News):
Prime Minister, you had a unique opportunity here this weekend for a number of world leaders to create a united front on Zimbabwe. Is it not the time for you all to up the pressure on Robert Mugabe? And also I would be interested to hear the views of the African leaders here, particularly President Mbeki as Zimbabwe’s neighbour, the longer this goes on, the greater the chance of intimidation and violence. Some say South Africa is not doing enough.
Prime Minister:
Well I think we are all agreed that the election results should be published and they should not be delayed and the elections have got to be seen to be fair. At the same time we do not have the publication of the presidential election results yet and we are monitoring the situation closely. I am fortunate that I will be able to have talks with President Mbeki tomorrow and of course by that time we hope that the full results will be published.
President Mbeki:
I think the Prime Minister has said all that needed to be said. There are elections taking place, the results will be announced. Both President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangerai have said in the event there is need for a run-off, nobody has got the required numbers we are quite ready both sides to have a re-run of the presidential elections and I think let us allow and assist that election process to go forward as planned. We will see what results come out but as I said, both Tsvangerai and Mugabe have said that in the event that nobody has got the majority that is needed to be elected, they are quite ready for a second round.
Prime Minister:
I think that the important thing is that the results have got to be published. They cannot be any longer delayed. The elections have got to be seen to be fair and that is what I think is the united view of everybody here.
Question:
A question for Kevin Rudd on climate change. Since you chaired the session on climate change, what was the consensus among the leaders on what specific emission targets need to be met, and by when, and the UNDP seems to be quite specific that those targets need to be people, per capita, based. What was the view on that, and what is your view on that?
Australian Prime Minister:
On the question of climate change, together with the rest of this agenda, the global challenge requires a global solution, development, a global challenge requiring a global solution, and the challenges to financial markets at present, a global challenge requiring a global solution. That is why we are here as a Progressive Governance response because we believe that individual national responses will always be inadequate. Global responses are necessary.
Specifically on the climate change challenge, our discussion today was that targets are essential
Also, and this was a significant point of discussion among us, targets independent of significant achievement in technology and technology transfer and new technologies, will not be met and therefore there has to be a huge effort through the international financial institutions, the World Bank, the IMF, and I am encouraged by reports from both of their representatives here today about what can be done on this score to ensure that new technologies are deployed both on the supply side of the problem, but also on the demand side, the reduce overall electricity demand. These are key areas for work. If you don’t have effective targets and you don’t have effective technologies to produce those targets, then frankly we are not being serious about the overall mission which the world must achieve if we are to secure a future for the planet.
New Zealand Prime Minister:
I think everyone present accepted the common, the differentiated responsibility to move on climate change. That will mean of course developed countries moving fast and furthest, but it also means finding the mechanisms by which we can support the developing world to start a programme of mitigation itself. That is going to come down to some of the ideas that Prime Minister Brown has advanced about a new role for the World Bank and the environmental area. The question is how we can support the technology transfer which will make it possible for the developing world to lead generations of … technologies by which developed countries got to the position they are in today. So for me, one of the most interesting parts of today’s discussion has been around both the way in which we facilitate developing countries to be able to act on climate change and how we facilitate developing countries being able to pick up the possibilities which hopefully a successful WTO round will open up for fairer trade.
President of Chile:
Well I just want to add how important it is to deal with climate change issues, how we can improve our knowledge of what is going on, and that is why we have to support strongly all scientific research to be able to build a global science research centre in order to have better responses. Also for the possibility of the developing countries to meet the requirements and the goals that we have agreed in Bali it is fundamental that we can see the climate change struggle as a pro-development process so all the small and poorest countries can also be part of this initiative.
President of Ghana:
When you talk about deforestation you have to include afforestation, and on the continent of Africa, around the Sahara, many of the countries are taking the initiative of afforesting the savannah, the land, to stop the spread of the Sahara which is truly threatening our economies and nations. But of course we need the support of the international community in this drive.
Prime Minister:
Any questions from other countries before we come back …..
Question:
This is a question for President Mbeki. As the intermediary in the Zimbabwean crisis, what insights do you have why the results of the presidential elections are not being made public?
President Mbeki:
You know we didn’t discuss Zimbabwe in the Progressive Governance Summit. What has been happening with regard to the counting of the votes in Zimbabwe. The two leading parties, that is MDC, and Zanu-PF, agreed with the ….electoral commission that they should have the possibility to verify the results that the electoral commission would announce by the time before the election results were announced. So what has been happening is that when the electoral commission was going to announce the results and the two parties are informed, and they see whether their own counting coincides with the counting of the electoral commission. In the event that there is a dispute, they bring together all the ballot papers that were posted at the polling stations to come together. In the event that there are still disputes, they even drive out to get the party agent who signed those returns to come and verify. It is a process which I instituted in order to ensure that indeed by the time the results are released there is as little controversy as is possible. So I am sure you heard the electoral commission talking about …. processes. That is what they have been doing to ensure that by the time the results are announced there is no controversy, they are not disputed by the political parties. As I understand it, that is what they were doing with the presidential vote counts because there were some disputes in some areas of the country about whether in this particular constituency or group of constituencies the total figure that was put together was correct, and we are checking that. That is what is happening. That is what delayed the result and what in fact accounts for why you haven’t had as many disputes once the election results are announced, disputes from the parties, because of the work that the electoral commission does with the parties before the results are announced. But as I say, we didn’t discussion Zimbabwe at the Governance Summit.
Question:
My question is how can international financial systems and international financial organisations help to fight the consequences of the financial crisis.
Prime Minister:
We have the meetings of the G7, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank coming up in the next few days. I think it is urgent, and I think there is a general agreement amongst the leaders who have met yesterday and today that we need new and clear rules for disclosure and transparency for financial institutions, but we cannot allow a situation to emerge again where off balance- sheet activities are not reported and we need a situation also where the write-offs are clearly validated. We need reform of the credit rating agencies, we need the International Monetary Fund to become itself an early warning system for the world economy and what at this time of uncertainty would give a great boost in confidence would also be the signing of a trade deal, so there are major reforms that individual countries will have to legislate, but at a world level ought to be agreed very soon on disclosure and at the same time we need to look at the institutional reforms within the IMF and elsewhere that are needed so that the world economy is in a better position to deal with financial turbulence in the times to come. This has been the first financial crisis of the new global economic system for a new era and we have got to learn the lessons urgently so that we can apply them now to deal with some of the problems that have arisen.
Chancellor of Austria:
Yes I want to entirely support what Gordon has just said concerning the resolution of the financial market crisis. I think we have to understand that the entire architecture is at stake right now and that we will not be able to generate any trust if there is not full evidence and full transparency about the range of the damage that has been created and I think it is not good that week by week another bank is announcing its damage because this will prolong a process of distrust and therefore I would think there should be an aura of transparency where everybody is putting on the table what the real damage has been.
And the second is, I entirely endorse the reform package for the Monetary Fund to make it a more effective organisation that could scrutinise and survey the international financial markets because what is true is that nowadays much more money is going all around the world in the financial markets than in trade. And in trade our system is much more solid than it is in the financial markets and therefore the entire reform package could lead to a transformation of the monetary funds to truly world finance organisations.
Australian Prime Minister:
In our discussion today I said very much the global financial crisis represents the elephant in the living room. It is big, it is real and with a roll-on effect to the real economy. Therefore, the challenge that we face, and all governments face, is to ensure that the response to this is effective, integrated and global, not segmented, partial and national. Therefore, when the international institutions including the IMF are due to meet, and meet very soon, it is very important there is a clear-cut and agreed agenda before them on the core questions of liquidity and the core questions of valuation of assets, and the core questions of transparency. This is necessary, we believe, to deal with the current situation but is also necessary to deal with the future as well. Too often in the past when these sorts of events have occurred and of a lesser order of magnitude, the lessons are lost. The lessons must be learned and applied otherwise we will face a very rocky future indeed.
President of Ghana:
The emerging world, the developing world, including Ghana, are very much at the mercy of the current financial market situation. Many of us use the dollar for trade. As it is with the difficulties confronting the dollar we find our economies also quite endangered, so it is urgent that the leader of the financial markets moves very quickly through the IMF to find a solution to stabilise the markets and ensure that there will be sustainability of the markets up-front.
President of Liberia:
As a representative of one of the poor countries we think that the current turmoil in the financial markets is only a manifestation of more deeply rooted structural problems and that those problems need to be addressed for the poor countries, and that is going back to structural deficiencies that have left us both depending on aid and not being able to trade effectively and thereby become more self-sufficient. And we hope that in finding the solution for the short term through transparency and correcting the imbalances in the financial markets, that there will be a much longer-term solution of ensuring that there is fair trade and that there will be a penetration of markets, there will be more equity in trading arrangements that will enable us to be able to penetrate those markets and to get away from protectionism.
Question:
I believe globalisation is about creating a borderless world, but do you realise that the UK in particular in opening its gates to Eastern Europe has totally forgotten about Africa.
Prime Minister:
I don’t accept the way you present it. We are introducing a point system for migration into the United Kingdom similar actually to the points system that operates in Australia and I believe also New Zealand, and that point system is an expression of our desire to attract people of skills to the country and people are therefore assessed on what contribution they can make to the United Kingdom. So the points system is fair, it is transparent, it is above board, it shows the priorities that we attach for people who are coming to the country, and that is why it is being introduced over the next few weeks and I believe it will be generally accepted to be fair .
President Mbeki:
But of course we are at the other end of that. The British, the United Kingdom, is trying to attract skilled people into the UK, I understand that. But it is attracting them out of South Africa and we don’t like that. (Laughter)
Speaker:
But I should like to add that we are looking forward to try to co-operate between the countries so we can get people with better qualifications in countries where we can find accreditation so I think we can find a way that we can all win.
Prime Minister:
Let me just say in reply to President Mbeki, we are working together to try to create, at an international level the resources for the training of more health workers, doctors, nurses and others, and the training of more teachers, and one of the discussions we have had is how we can actually increase the amount of development support for these things so that all countries can benefit from an increased capacity to develop skills in every part of the world.
Spokesman:
Ladies and gentlemen I think that is all we have time for unfortunately.
Prime Minister:
Well we will take two more to make sure.
Question (Andrew Marr, BBC):
Could I, without apology, return to the question of Zimbabwe. Opposition lawyers say they have been threatened with being shot trying to get the results out from the High Court today. Could I ask President Mbeki, if there is a second round, and a run-off, what South Africa can do to ensure that is fair. Should there be African Union observers, should there be international observers in that country?
President Mbeki:
You know Zimbabwe is not a South African province, can we agree about that? There are international observers now and I am quite sure there will be international observers again and we worked with the Zimbabweans for a long time and agreed about the rules and regulations and things that should govern elections so that those elections should be free and fair with acceptable outcomes and essentially they have observed those rules and regulations up to now. I don’t see why, if there is a re-run of the presidential election, they would change. They know what to do. The electoral law has changed, all manner of things here changed, the public order security act was changed, the broadcasting act was changed and so on. The manner of behaviour of the police was discussed and agreed. Balloting, posting of ballot papers, announcing of the results. As I say, they have done all of that in Zimbabwe, both the ruling party and the opposition, and I don’t see why they would change.
Prime Minister:
Could I just say that in addition to us saying that the results should not be delayed, we are determined that of course there are international observers if there is a second round. In addition to talking to President Mbeki about this, I have talked to President Museveni (phon.) in Uganda, President Kikweki (phon.) who is the Head of the African Union, and the determination of everybody is that not only are results not delayed where that is unnecessary but equally the results are seen to be fair, and that requires the observers we have just been talking about.
Question:
[Joke about Cyprus, inaudible] How can Britain help in exploring the new positive climate in Cyprus for a new initiative which will lead to a solution?
Prime Minister:
Well I have talked to the new leadership. I have invited them to London. We are going to have talks about that to see if we can play our part in obviously what has got to be a negotiated solution.
There is time for one more [question] therefore.
Question:
Just on a question arising out of the Conference, you have all agreed on the importance of a successful completion of the Doha Round. To what extent are the European leaders here prepared to give concrete ground on agricultural subsidies and barriers to assist the developing countries, and do you think it is possible that it will be achieved by the end of the year?
Prime Minister:
Well we have benefited from the presence of Pascal Lamy who is Head of the World Trade Organisation, the European Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, who is negotiating on behalf of Europe and we have had each continent expressing its views about both the desirability of a trade settlement and our belief that a trade settlement can happen. Now without getting into the details of individual parts of the negotiation I think it is generally agreed that America and Europe have got to do something about the agricultural subsidies and tariffs and are prepared to move on these things as they have over the last few months. And at the same time we need the other parts of the world to agree that other changes have got to be made. Now, we are now confident that the gap between the sides is not so big that it cannot be bridged, we have faith in the negotiators who are now going to be meeting after a new publication of documents very soon, and we look forward to doing something that we believe will help restore confidence in the global economy and that is the signing of a trade deal, backed up for the developing countries by a big aid-for-trade package that can enable countries that feel that they do not have the resources, infrastructure or the environment in which they can actually trade at the moment, support to develop that infrastructure for the future.
Australian Prime Minister:
Well as somebody who doesn’t fit Dennis’ category as a European but I can add to what Gordon has just said. What is remarkable in this gathering is that you have parties here traditionally of the Centre and the Centre-Left, developed countries, developing countries in one voice saying that the world economy needs a positive outcome soon on the Doha Development Round. Good for the global economy, good for developed economies, good for the developing economies. What has been encouraging in terms of our discussions with Pascal Lamy and also separately with the trade negotiator for the European Union is the extent to which there has been real movement in recent days. We believe that success is within our grasp as an international community. What is required now is political will on the part of all of us to bring that to conclusion, and this will be hard work which needs to be done literally in the course of the next few weeks. And to add one footnote to it, it is good that Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, has brought us together to this meeting at this time. We have major matters to resolve on the question of the global economy and markets, on trade questions as well, and the enduring questions of climate change and on development and I would just take this opportunity in my closing remarks to thank the British Prime Minister for having the leadership to bring us together at this important time to discuss global solutions to these global problems.
Prime Minister:
Thank you all very much. I’m sorry there hasn’t been enough time for all the questions but I hope you will agree that the whole session has been broadcast and is available to be covered and we have tried to answer as many questions as we can. Thank you all for being with us today.
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