Bill Clinton: Saviour of the world?

[emad]

Bill Clinton: Saviour of the world?
He's left the White House, but Bill Clinton still wants to end poverty, bring about global peace and save the planet. He tells Euripedes Alcântara how he plans to do it
Published: 12 September 2005


Bill Clinton is fully engaged in the contest to be the best ex-president of the United States. This week, in New York, he will host the first global meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), a super-NGO with grand goals such as the promotion of economic growth without environmental impact and the conciliation of religious differences as a way to end terrorism. At 59 and fully recovered from coronary revascularisation surgery, Clinton expects to gather together almost 1,000 entrepreneurial, labour and political leaders from all over the world. Every year for the next decade, the meeting in New York will coincide with the opening ceremony of the United Nations General Assembly. "It is a meeting unlike a Davos or a UN meeting, but an activism forum from which each participant will come out with a list of tasks to be accomplished," says the former president. "Those who do not fulfil the tasks will not come back the following year."

If the living standards of hundreds of millions of people in Asia and Africa were raised, it could be argued that this would hasten the depletion of natural resources. If all the inhabitants of the planet reached the same consumption standards of the inhabitants of California, there would be an environmental collapse, wouldn't there?

"The shortest answer is yes. But the longest is that it is possible to create wealth without destroying the environment. This is the great challenge. All over the world, water reserves are diminishing, fertile soils are being eroded and seed production is showing a downward trend. South America is one of the few regions in the world that was able to increase the production of soy and other seeds thanks to technology and the abundance of fertile lands. But this is an exception in the world. The rule is the shortage of water and of arable lands.

"Therefore, one of the dearest purposes of my initiative is to find ways to turn environmental preservation into a path to attain economic prosperity. Otherwise, the reaction of people, let us say, in China and India, may be very negative. They might think that environmental preservation is an ambush by Americans and Europeans to prevent their countries' economic growth. For this reason, we have to stimulate the use of solar energy, of aeolian energy, and help to popularise highly productive cultivation techniques that will help us preserve water and the soil. Thus, people will understand that preservation makes them richer, not poorer.

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article312061.ece

[emad]

1. Angling for Kofi's job or next NATO Sec-Gen?

Not much else left apart from NASA Creative Director.....

[mattclearing]

2. Nah, if this initiative is successful, Clinton will be the de facto SG.

This is a way to use his international clout to do the things the UN cannot.

Fucking brilliant, honestly, and it makes you wonder if he has the Bushes right where he wants them, despite all the playing nice.

[texpatriot2004]

3. I have always had a fondness for Mr. Clinton. n/t

[chicagiana]

4. I doubt he'll save the world ...

But Clinton has always been good at making it a bit better.

Clinton sacrificed too many principles to get into a position to do good. But isn't that true for MOST do-gooders who actually wants to hold public office??

[Xenotime]

5. If anyone can do it, he can...

He's done a better job and more for the world than any president in the past 20 years.

[silverweb]

6. Go, Bill!

This is brilliant and I dearly hope the CGI becomes a household name has huge success.

If anyone can do it, Clinton can. He has such universal popularity, and such a creative and brilliant mind, that he actually stands a chance of making some really positive changes in the world.