GFDD participated at the State of the Planet 06 forum at Columbia University
New York, United States, March 30, 2006.

On March 28-29, 2006, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) participated in the "State of the Planet 06: Is Sustainable Development feasible?" forum, held by The Earth Institute, at the Roone Arledge Auditorium, Alfred Lerner Hall, Columbia University, New York City.

This is the fourth biennial State of the Planet conference, in which international renowned experts, scholars and opinion leaders gather to discuss the current issues on sustainable development. This two-day forum explored through a series of panels the fundamental requirements of science, technology, economy, governance and human behavior needed to achieve sustainable development. It also addressed the main global issues challenging sustainable development, as climate change and other environmental problems, corruption and institutional weaknesses, the market forces, and cultural patterns.

Panelists included Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; Mark Malloch Brown, Chef de Cabinet to the UN Secretary General and former UNDP chair; Rajendra K. Pachauri, Director-General, The Energy Resources Institute, and Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Eric V. Schaeffer, Director, Environmental Integrity Project; John Coomber, Retired Chief Executive Officer, Swiss Re Group; Abby Joseph Cohen, Partner and Chief U.S. Investment Strategist, Goldman, Sachs and Co.; Joseph Romm, Executive Director, Center for Energy and Climate Solutions; Stuart L. Hart, Samuel C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise, and Professor of Management, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University; David J. Refkin, Director of Sustainable Development, Time Inc.; Amy Davidsen, Director of Environmental Affairs, JP Morgan Chase; Joel E. Cohen, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of Populations, Rockefeller University, Professor of Populations, Columbia University, and Head of the Laboratory of Populations, The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Rockefeller University; among many others. The forum was moderated by John C. Mutter, Deputy Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University.

During the event, panelists presented ideas and discussed the feasibility of sustainable development for billions of people worldwide. Jeffrey D. Sachs, in his concluding remarks, emphasized that it is possible to achieve sustainable development in our time if people from all levels start doing what is needed today and don't think that it is a 'tomorrow's problem'. Responsibility is not only for governments or policy makers, but also for the private sector and civil society.

The Earth Institute is a partner of FUNGLODE in the area of competitivity. The Dominican Republic is deeply engaged in the UN Millennium Development Goals program, one of the recurrent references throughout the conference, as a pilot country.

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
The Earth Institute website
Event's website: http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/sop2006/
To download the entire conference in audio file: http://www.dkv.columbia.edu/sop2006/sop2006.xml