10th Anniversary Members Meeting April 27-29, 2006 Bellagio, Italy
Meeting Summary Perspectives for the Future: Beyond Traditional Partnerships
1 Participants Jens Ambsdorf Lighthouse Foundation www.lighthouse-foundation.org Joao Amorin Fundacao Oriente www.foriente.pt Michèle Boccoz Institut Pasteur www.pasteur.fr Marta Bonifert Regional Environmental Centre for www.rec.org Central and Eastern Europe Charles A. Buchanan, Jr. Luso American Foundation www.flad.pt Cheryl Campbell Television Trust for the Environment www.tve.org Michael E. Conroy Rockefeller Brothers Fund www.rbf.org Will Day UNDP www.undp.org Xavier de Bayser I.DE.A.M www.ideam.fr Carol-Anne De Carolis Institut Veolia Environnement www.institutveoliaenvironnement.org Foster Deibert WestLB AG www.westlb.de Dario Disegni Compagnia di San Paolo www.compagnia.torino.it Jed Emerson Generation Foundation www.generationim.com/foundation Steve Falci Calvert Group www.calvert.com Hans Friederich IUCN www.iucn.org Ralf Frye Bellagio Forum www.bfsd.org Hans-Joachim Gericke Foundation for Music, Art and Nature www.stiftung-mkn.com Somak Ghosh Yesbank Ltd. www.yesbank.in Peter Goldmark Environmental Defense www.environmentaldefense.org Michael Hanssler G. Henkel-Stiftung www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de Michael Hoelz Deutsche Bank www.umwelt.deutsche-bank.de Michaela Hoelz Heidelberg University www.uni-heidelberg.de Kurt Hoffman Shell Foundation www.shellfoundation.org Leslie Hoffman Earth pledge www.earthpledge.org Dirk Hoffmann Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances www.bsh-group.com Oliver Karius Vantage Point www.vantagep.org Sandra Kingma ABN-AMRO www.abnamro.com Philippe Kourilsky Institut Veolia Environnement www.institutveoliaenvironnement.org R. Andreas Kraemer Ecologic www.ecologic.de Joerg Eduard Krumsiek Deutsche Bank Foundation www.deutsche-bank-stiftung.de Mans Loennroth MISTRA www.mistra-research.se Gabriel Lopez IUCN www.iucn.org Bernhard Lorentz Vodafone Foundation Germany www.vodafone.de Arved Lueth IFOK GmbH www.ifok.de Rosa Matos AVINA www.avina.net Bernard Mercer New Philanthropy Capital www.philanthropycapital.org Kimberly Ochs Bosch Fellow www.bosch-stiftung.de Marcello Palazzi Progressio Foundation www.progressiofoundation.org Shilpa Patel IFC / World Bank www.ifc.org Cornelius Pietzner Triskeles Foundation www.triskeles.org Mary Robinson eginitiative www.eginitiative.org Klaus Scholtissek IFOK GmbH www.ifok.de Gabriel Schwaderer Euronatur www.euronatur.org Samuel Shiroff Bellagio Forum www.bfsd.org Oltmann G. Siemens IFC / World Bank www.ifc.org Jeannie Simon Bellagio Forum www.bfsd.org Steven Smith Ritchie Capital www.ritchiecapital.com Stephen Somerville Reuters Society www.foundation.reuters.com Bjorn Stigson WBCSD www.wbcsd.org Christian Stoffaes e7 www.e7.org Elmar Stumpf Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances www.bsh-group.com Alexandra Traun Foundation for Sustainable Development Ken Taylor Shell EP International www.shell.com Klaus Toepfer UNEP (fmr) www.unep.org Laurence Tubiana IDDRI www.iddri.org Cole Wilbur David & Lucile Packard Foundation www.packard.org Jan-Olaf Willums Foundation for Business and Society www.foundation.no Robert Zinser Rotary Action Group for Population www.rifpd.org and Development 2 Overview of the Proceedings During the 10th Anniversary Meeting April 27-29th 2006 in Bellagio, Como, Italy
The Bellagio Forum Director and Chairman of the Board Welcome Participants
On April 27, and Bellagio Forum Chairman Michael Hoelz opened the 10th Anniversary Meeting of the Bellagio Forum, “Perspectives for the Future: Beyond Traditional Partnerships.” Guests met in the magnificent Breva Hall at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Italy.
Michael Hoelz welcomed the participants to this remarkable place the founders of the Bellagio Forum had selected. He expressed special thanks to the keynote speakers and to the founding members of the Bellagio Forum as well as the meeting sponsors.
Hoelz focused on the role of foundations in the “new” phase of globalization, i.e. global governance, long-term commitments in a world of “short-termism” and the need to act as “drivers of change” towards increasingly sustainable processes and lifestyles. He pointed to the fundamental role that education at all levels must play in affecting positive change.
Following Hoelz’s opening remarks, Bellagio Forum Executive Director Samuel Shiroff presented an overview of the Bellagio Forum’s current structure and mission. He noted that this meeting in Bellagio was an opportunity to recapture some of the initial inspiration and vision that led to the creation of the Forum a decade ago. 3 Keynote Address: Peter Goldmark, Director of Climate Policy at Environmental Defense, Former Rockefeller Foundation President and Former Chief Editor of the International Herald Tribune
Peter Goldmark, who has served as Rockefeller Foundation President and Chief Editor of the International Herlad Tribune and currently as Director of Climate Policy at Environmental Defense, 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 to take bold action and use their [Forum members’] collective resources to tackle those pivotal issues that require partnerships to address properly. He offered several specific suggestions including identifying corporations from key industries 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 part of their endowments in a more pro-actively sustainable manner.
Sustainable Development, Goldmark said, “is the paramount subject of our moment in history.” Noting dramatic studies that indicate a fundamental change in the water flows in the oceans, the prospect that the United States, China and India will choose to burn their vast quantities of coal reserves and the accelerated melting of the major Himalayan glaciers, Goldmark said that the next generation is one “to whom we will leave a lot of problems.”
Encouraging bold action, Goldmark pointed out that foundations are in position to take risks that other types of organizations cannot afford to take; and that they must overcome their history cautiously approaching some of the daunting challenges. “If you are faced with a large challenge that can change the face of your civilization and you do not react with aggressive thought, with discipline, careful thought, 4 with pooling resources – in other words, if you are timid and cautious – that is reckless,” said Goldmark.
Goldmark went on to suggest specific initiatives that foundations are in place to facilitate. He encouraged these very unique types of organizations to reach out to areas where little progress towards sustainability has been made, but is necessary. In the field of aviation, for instance, there have been tremendous positive benefits to the global economy as well as helping average people to better understand those with whom they share the planet. However, the environmental implications of ever- growing jet fuel emissions needs to be tackled. With one of the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers in Europe, the potential to work in a collaborative effort between foundations, governments and key corporations has a great deal of potential to take the first steps necessary to discover how the aviation industry might reduce its impact on the environment.
Goldmark encouraged the foundations of the Bellagio Forum to reflect on their founding and the reason they exist, to understand that their mission should also extend to how they invest the endowments. Foundations, he believes, should use all of their assets to promote sustainable development. He commented “It doesn’t matter whether you want market returns or are willing to consider something less. Both are important and both are available” in terms of responsible investment opportunities. On this note, Goldmark was also willing to “put his mouth where his mouth is.” He wagered the audience that if they would put 10% of their endowments into a sustainable investment plan that it would not be the lowest performing asset in their portfolio in 3 years.
Moreover, foundations might also find a great deal of benefit from exploring innovative, cooperative efforts with corporations: for instance, offering finance for corporate efforts to improve the sustainability of their operations. Challenging a company to convert its vehicle fleet to bio-diesel or natural gas while concurrently providing the financing (via a loan) to accomplish the switchover is an opportunity for all actors to better serve society and fulfil their mission.
Goldmark concluded by encouraging both members and participants at the meeting to recognize the complexity and enormity of the challenge faced, to understand that it is very much their job to meet that challenge and refrain from setting sights too low as to what might be accomplished through the Forum.
5 Opening Plenary: Founding Member Roundtable – “Reflections and Expectations”
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 at 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.
Charles Buchanan, the Bellagio Forum’s first chairman as well as a founding member, began the session by reflecting on the Forum’s beginnings. At that time, said Buchanan, organizations weren’t devoted to sustainable development. “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,” said Buchanan. “Today the group is larger, and the way we perceive the challenges is a bit different, but this remains a key strength of the Forum.” He stated that “always with a purpose” was the theory behind the working groups.
Bellagio Forum Chairman Michael Hoelz added that the Bellagio Forum is also where the corporate and foundation worlds combine. The Forum, he explained, brings together partnerships and fosters dialogue. Collaboration, said Somerville, is the reason why the Bellagio Form has “worked.”
Upon acknowledging the multi-sectoral, collaborative nature of the Bellagio Forum, Peter Goldmark then questioned why the press does not know how to properly cover the issue of sustainable development. He pointed out that, based on his experience at the International Herald Tribune, it is good to focus on editors, who are the gatekeepers to the broader public. However, it was also stated that lower level journalists have an interest in sustainable development and are ready to make the topic “sound exciting.” Goldmark maintained that more work needs to be done on how long-term as well as complex, scientific issues are covered in the press and encouraged Forum members to take this into consideration. 6 Plenary Session: “Foundations as Change Leaders: Managing the Consequences of a Shrinking World”
The panel was chaired by R. Andreas Kramer featured Kurt Hoffman, from the Shell Foundation, Måns Lönnroth of MISTRA and William Day from UNDP. The focus was clearly directed on the role public, private and corporate foundations could and might play in catalyzing the positive and mitigating the negative forces of globalization.
Day identified challenges that have arisen as a result of the much less clearly defined categories and geography between different sectors as well as organization types. Moreover, he noted the need to harness the positive potential of effective business models in poorer regions. Recognizing the special circumstances encountered in several of the most undeveloped regions in the world, he pointed to the need for a “hybrid business model,” which would incorporate some necessary philanthropic elements but concurrently push for self-sustained financing. 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. As an example, he pointed out that many local and regional governments remain very hesitant to hand water issues over to the private sector although it may, in fact, be the best and only solution. Foundations need to acknowledge the possibility of strategically collaborating with the private sector because foundations simply don’t have the capacity or resources for the task at hand.
Kurt Hoffman, in turn, provocatively questioned the efficiency, or lack thereof, of foundations as they distribute their considerable resources. Hoffman said that “We should not be worrying about specific problems, rather the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the organizations (foundations) in the system.” He noted that the agendas set in the rich world often 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. Hoffman raised the question “Are you delivering a product that people need and want?” He stated that we need to measure the impact rather than the actions themselves and challenged foundations to better understand supply 7 and demand mechanisms where they work and further expose themselves to the “drivers of change.” “Foundations,” he said, “are able to take risks, but are often both inefficient and too cautious.” They enjoy considerable private and public financial resources but generally lack a great deal of accountability to the societies which they are meant to assist. The drivers of scale, that is profit – are most often absent from the projects undertaken by foundations. Scalability, only works when money is being made.
MISTRA’s Måns Lönnroth concentrated on the capacity of foundations to make the fundamental changes needed in “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. Lönnroth believes that one of the greatest opportunities and challenges 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. In terms of foundations’ underlying mission, Lönnroth said “A foundation’s role is to create hope. When people ask, will the world be a better place for my children than for me, they want to answer positively. In China there is more hope today than there is in the United States or Western Europe.” Finally, noting that “money isn’t the answer to most problems, knowledge is,” Lönnroth called on foundations “which are created with a lot of money, but not a lot of knowledge,” to work in tandem with other organizations, including corporations, “to take the type of risks they should be taking given the stakes we are facing.”
Bellagio Commitment
The Bellagio Forum began drafting a set of principles for foundations known as the “Bellagio Commitment.” The purpose of the document is to provide a measurable set of principles for endowed foundations and their partners. A draft of the Bellagio Commitment was presented to members and guests. Members and guests alike were asked to contribute to the refining of the document. Individual participants were assigned to groups, which then provided documentation of their discussion to the secretariat. The group’s ideas and points were then later compiled into a new draft of 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. A copy of the document as presented at the conclusion of the meeting is available on page 22. If you would like to add comments or suggestions, please write to: [email protected]. 8 Impressions from Bellagio
L to R: Board Members Gabriel Lopez, R. Andreas L to R: Michael Hoelz, Klaus Toepfer and Jan-Olaf Willums. Kraemer, Måns Lönnroth, Sam Shiroff, Cheryl Campbell and Michael Hoelz.
Lunch on the veranda of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni. L to R: Charles Buchanan, Michael Hoelz, Xavier de Bayser and Jan-Olaf Willums.
L to R: Will Day and Oliver Karius. Water transportation in Bellagio, Italy.
9 Keynote Address: Mary Robinson, Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Former President of Ireland
Mary Robinson addressed the Bellagio Forum on the evening of April 27. She focused her remarks on the importance of finding ways to deepen the communication and bridge the language between those committed to addressing issues of the sustainable development and those who are addressing human rights challenges.
Robinson began with a positive look back at the 2002 Johannesburg Conference on Sustainable Development. She was encouraged to see the “banner of civil society,” which was represented “predominantly by environmental groups, some development groups and a few human rights groups.” She noted that human rights were not addressed at all at previous conferences, such as Rio in 1992. However, it was the “Jo-berg” conference that acknowledged that there can be no sustainable development without human rights.
Before the Johannesburg Conference, Klaus Toepfer had encouraged her – in her office as High Commissioner on Human Rights – to organize a meeting of senior human rights and environment experts. The two-and-a-half days of brainstorming produced what Robinson calls “a very good set of … principles” intended to be presented to the member states at the Johannesburg Conference. Although not implemented at the conference, Robinson believed that the principles are a good example for communication between those committed to addressing issues of the environment and those 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.”
Robinson acknowledged the great deal of discussion regarding the relationship between human rights and sustainable development in both the UN as well as from donor governments. She particularly stressed the importance of the donor programs of European countries such as Switzerland (Swiss Development Cooperation), Sweden (DFID) or Ireland (Irish Aid) because they explicitly include human rights as part of what they do. She defined the challenge as the need to build the confidence necessary to work on a shared agenda that not only draws on the strengths of the environmental sustainable development approach but also on the necessary commitment of all governments under the international human rights system. Robinson underlined that rights such as the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child reinforce the Millennium Development Goals and are “vital legal tools for civil society groups.”
Robinson stated that the Bellagio Forum’s strength lies in its ability to link foundations with their long-term horizon and its ability to take on issues based on their merits rather than the “exigencies of the market.” In tandem with corporate grant giving, Robinson was of the opinion that such combination leads to some
“healthy tension.” 10 Robinson recognized that many countries have greatly profited from globalization, but she added that many of its victims don’t show up in the statistics, such as the 30,000 children who die everyday from preventable diseases or the 600,000 women who die in child birth. Robinson acknowledged that it’s difficult to link the rich world with the realities of the very poor world. Where can endowed and corporate foundations really make a difference and address these kinds of issues? Robinson shared an example from her own experience, describing how the poverty reduction strategy in countries like Tanzania and Ghana were put into action through a joint assessment strategy. Robinson stated that this kind of coherence and effective building of synergies is what is needed in the Bellagio Forum and in the foundation world in general. She maintained that there must be “... respect for the fact that it’s the government and people of these countries who own the process, not those ... who try to help from outside. And therefore, there is a real responsibility to be extremely innovative about how to create the maximum synergies in activities that take place.” In the context of environmental challenges and sustainable development, Robinson pointed out that it is vital to talk about what the developing countries themselves identify as the key issues.
Robinson indicated that the human right to health in developing countries has to be seen as a right to a reasonably functioning health system. The human rights movement is learning to be less judgmental and rhetorical. Robinson stated that a key issue that has to be tackled is management problems, which put the health systems of many developing countries on the verge of collapse. Robinson maintained that if foundations could find a niche of coherence to strengthen the work of donor governments, they would truly be able make a difference in this area.
Robinson explained that traditionally the focus of human rights work has been on holding governments to their responsibility because they were usually the violators of the rights. However, Robinson underlines that transnational corporations and their networks also increasingly have to be held accountable for their actions as well. As UN norms for transnational corporations and other businesses were not accepted by a significant proportion of business, alternative mechanisms like the Global Compact were established. Robinson observed that companies all over the world (for example: Chinese state-owned and private companies) are recognizing the importance of tackling environmental problems and are actually interested in a value system. Robinson asked the Bellagio Forum members to build on this and to help support this positive development.
As far as global governance is concerned, Robinson strongly maintained her belief in a multi-state approach that includes international institutions, governments and corporations. Robinson had taken part in a discussion about a modeling exercise, the Helsinki Process on Globalization and Development, which proved to be a very good example of how the interests and goals of various international players can be implemented. The idea was also that the government of a country would lead the discussion on a certain aspect, e.g. Finland has made a commitment to lead on the fight against corruption, or Mexico on migration, etc. It is in this context that foundations could provide a “thoughtful and knowledge-based role.” As far as reforms of the UN are concerned, Robinson stated that one has to be very patient with the process. Robinson compared her view of the UN to Churchill’s view on democracy and drew on his quote: “It’s the worst system, except for all the others.”
11 Keynote Address: Klaus Toepfer, Former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
Prof. Klaus Toepfer, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Germany’s former Federal Minister of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety gave the morning keynote address on April 28th.
Opening the second day of the meeting, Toepfer implored 60 members and guests to consider the way the world would look in 50 years, given current trends. He expressed his concern about the current trade-offs between immediate GDP growth and environmental integrity, especially in the growing giants of China and India. “China’s GDP,” said Toepfer, “may well be overestimated when one accounts for the enormous depletion of their environmental capital.”
Toepfer reflected on how the debate and perceptions about the role of sustainable development and environmental services had changed over the past several decades. In an anecdote regarding a conversation with an African leader about the relative merits of building a dam or restoring wetlands, Toepfer made the point that “what was needed was not more water for the environment but rather more environment for water.”
Turning to some of the philosophical tenets of the very practical requirements for implementation, Prof. Toepfer took inspiration from Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative – “act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it would become a universal law.” Toepfer related this to the role that individuals and organizations must play: “The role of a foundation is a reflection of a certain understanding in society.” He noted that nations with very large public sectors, especially former communist countries, have few – if any – foundations. Those nations which are more focused on individual freedoms tend to have a greater number of foundations. With a specific focus on sustainable development, he then found agreement with the ‘new categorical imperative’ postulated by Han Jonas to “act so12 that the effects of your action are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life.” This, in effect, means that the common ‘good’ is preserved through the wisdom and moderation of the present, the present policies of preservation, which have been found to hold value carried forward for future generations.
“I believe”, said Toepfer, “we are [at the point of] change where sustainable development is, without any doubt, understood as the necessary basis for economic development. You cannot fight poverty without it. It is not an add-on . . . it is the most important interest of poor people.”
Reinforcing the message of fellow keynote speaker Mary Robinson, Toepfer touched on the absolute necessity of including humans rights in the sustainable development equation. An environment in which there is clean air to breathe and safe water to drink is a human right. They are no more or less important than the freedom to speak and worship as well as the other universally recognized rights. “Human rights are unquestionably beneficial to us all,” said Toepfer. It is tremendously important that we understand the correlation and overlap between the sustainable development and human rights communities.
13 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 that they felt foundations have achieved and several of the important problems that the current global trade regime poses to sustainable global development.
Conroy presented three major ideas. He began with the statement that trade itself is a “contradictory thing.” Trade is both a threat as well as an important tool for sustainable development. As it is both a positive and a negative aspect of sustainable development, it poses some contradictory challenges. Despite the tremendous amounts of capital that flow around the globe every day, the trade of goods has a far greater impact in terms of sustainability. Concurrently, the major problem is not necessarily the material flows themselves but rather the governance of that trade. Trade supremacy, or the subjugation of all other considerations to that of free trade, has been the most damaging aspect of increasingly globalized trade. More specifically, it is against WTO rules to ban trade for Product and Process
Methods (PPM). In other words, goods made with child labor 14 or products from illegal logging cannot be treated differently by an importing country. This is a major challenge to implementing global standards to eliminate the most egregious practices.
Secondly, Conroy pointed out that focus on trade alone will not be effective. A pure focus on trade issues is unlikely to solve any of the related problems. Foundations and other funders have not – and will not – stop trade. It is the exploitation that results from trade that must also be a main focus. “Little of globalization is inevitable or unchangeable”, said Conroy. Foundations have been effective in assisting nations of the global south to better understand their needs in global negotiations. The existence of a “development round” and the tough negotiating tactics of developing countries is, in Conroy’s view, a success that can be partly attributed to the efforts of foundations.
Lastly, Conroy opined that multi-sectoral collaborative efforts, such as those the Bellagio Forum tries to foster, may have inherent structural elements that make it extremely difficult to achieve effective implementation.
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. “For those who are ardently pro-globalization, free trade is a silver bullet,” said Tubiana. However, they often fail to see the societal pressures created by increasingly uneven distribution of wealth that has resulted. 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. Some of the strains placed on different societies can be seen both in the results of democratic elections as well as the protests that indicate great discomfort and concern about the future. It would be a poor choice for the global elite to become increasingly isolated as they ignore the “collective will.”
Tubiana called for a rethinking of the trade governance regime that has been in place since WWII. The model of a small handful of actors led by one giant is breaking down as developing countries take an increasingly prominent role in global trade. Tubiana asked, “How will we shape a world in which the current hierarchy is not the leading model?” Partly answering this question, she sees an increasingly strong role for NGOs on a global stage. There must be legitimate non-governmental actors to assist in the setting and monitoring of standard production process standards and norms.
15 Keynote Address: Cole Wilbur, Trustee and Former President of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Looking forward to the year 2016, Cole Wilbur presented examples of what the Packard Foundation sees as some of the key issues that need to be addressed. He described the vision and mission of his Foundation and then gave examples of issues the Packard Foundation is facing as well as current critical trends.
The two primary focuses of Packard Foundation’s environmental initiatives are sustainable fishing and the changes in the global climate. Programs concentrate on climate change and closely related energy efficiency issues. “China is our biggest program,” said Wilbur. “Brazil is another area. And the United States because the United States is still number one in putting carbon into the air.” In addition, the Packard Foundation funds research and gives fellowships in science.
The Packard Foundation also addresses population issues, which is still a major problem and will continue to be such for many areas of the world. In doing so, the Packard Foundation also works with other foundations. Wilbur pointed out that the population is growing in areas that can least support the growth. “Urbanization is an issue we see over the next ten years as being much larger,” said Wilbur, who also pointed out the problems caused my migration. “Whatever your feeling on this is, migration is probably going to get larger before it gets smaller.”
Wilbur stressed the importance of researching problems in order to provide strategic and systemic solutions. He also stressed the extreme importance of including China as a fundamental part of any solution to global challenges. Some examples of key issues inlcude poverty, unemployment, food, education, health 16 (epidemics and HIV Aids) and air pollution. He indicated that the global warming issue will worsen - as will the problem of over-fishing. Wilbur also pointed to the rising dosages of antibiotics being used in fish farming and agriculture. “My father was a doctor, and I looked at his bag…. He was giving out penicillin that was almost about 1/50th of … what they’re giving out now,” said Wilbur. Agriculture, food and water were also named as important issues, with water being likely the most important.
Wilbur stressed the importance of foundations being prepared for natural disasters. He also noted the proliferation of internet scammers. “As people give more online, we need to be helpful to them and figure out how can our foundation … be helpful to the individuals who want to give,” said Wilbur. In addition, he called for better coordination of volunteer efforts. “It could be that one of the issues that we could help in after a natural disaster is to try and setup a volunteer center…” he said.
Wilbur pointed out that in his experience working with governments, it has sometimes been positive, sometimes less good – dependent upon whether or not the efforts are in line with the government’s agenda or not. In reference to governments, Wilbur also pointed out that through tax deductions, governments are increasing their involvement in giving preference to certain charitable efforts. “We’re going to have to help the government come up with better policies,” said Wilbur. “My guess is that as philanthropy keeps growing, donor governments are going to get much more involved.”
“I feel that we need to do a better job of having this organization [the Bellagio Forum] and others work together,” said Wilbur. He also stressed the importance of building better relationships with other organizations. In addition, Wilbur added that an overall country strategy is needed rather than focusing on a particular issue – especially in developing countries. “I think we need to do a better job in the next ten years of understanding what other people are doing and really getting your information input,” said Wilbur. He pointed out that multiple NGOs may be working in a particular country, but none of them are aware of the other’s activities due to poor communication. “One role a foundation can certainly have is to bring together the NGOs and make sure that they do have an opportunity to work together,” added Wilbur.
Wilbur indicated that the use of assets is another way foundations can help. “We [Packard Foundation] do quite big program related investments – PRIs,” said Wilbur. He pointed out that foundations need to think more about program-oriented investments. “I think it needs to grow in the foundation field,” said Wilbur.
Wilbur also stressed the importance of working with corporations, “We don’t do that very often, and we should do a much better job of that.” He also stated that foundations don’t work as well as they could with governments and encouraged foundations to start at the top in their approach. “We can do better than we are,” said Wilbur.
17 Keynote Address: Björn Stigson, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Björn Stigson, delivered the final keynote address of the Forum’s 10th Anniversary Meeting. In his remarks, Stigson focused on presenting the business perspective on the needs and requirements of achieving a more sustainable development.
Stigson explained that, at the time of its founding, the World Business Council felt compelled to systematically pose the question “What is sustainable development?” A project resulting in three scenarios was put together to attempt to flesh out an answer. The first scenario is FROG (First Raise Our Growth… and then we’ll worry about the rest.) “That’s very much today’s world,” remarked Stigson. “We’re still on that unsustainable path.”
The next two scenarios addressed what a sustainable world might look like. The first of the two scenarios is Geopolity, a big government world. “We asked ourselves ‘What would it take for governments to start to take action and move the world from a FROG path over to a sustainable path?’” said Stigson. The results of the scenario study showed that such a world could only come into existence in response to a deep crisis. “The governments will not take action and move the world in a sustainable direction before we’ve come deep into a crisis so they feel that they have got a sufficient mandate…” declared Stigson.
Jazz, indicating humans living in harmony with nature, is the third scenario and one that would lead to a more sustainable world. “Could we make the markets work and integrate values around environment and social issues and move in a sustainable direction?” Stigson pointed out that this is a time-consuming process. “The key question is then ‘Are the ecosystems resilient enough to give us the time?’” said Stigson. 18 Stigson acknowledged that we have indeed been gradually moving from a FROG to a Jazz scenario. “I see a number of these market forces coming into play … but we are certainly not there yet,” said Stigson. He pointed to two key parameters that differentiate the three worlds: certainty (“How much time do we have? Is the ecosystem resilient enough?”) and the government system (“Big government decisions vs. a market oriented system.”)
“The issue of uncertainty has broadened,” said Stigson. “We have economic uncertainty, uncertainty regarding China and India, uncertainty regarding corporate social responsibility issues.” Stigson points out that, in 2050, 85% of the world’s population, an aging population, will live in developing countries. “The pressure on the social security network – on health care, pensions and so on – will be tremendous at the same time,” said Stigson.
He also noted that it is unclear about who is actually in charge of promoting sustainable development among the governments of the world: “You knock on the door, and it’s pretty empty when you try to open it.” Stigson felt that intergovernmental bodies, such as the UN, have been weakened over the past ten years. “It’s very difficult for the global community to come together and come to an agreement on any kind of governmental level,” said Stigson. “There is no leadership in the leading countries.” Stigson later added “I do not believe that we will create a sustainable consumption without legislation and rules from our governments.”
“The big question is ‘Who is in charge of creating a sustainable world?’” said Stigson. “In this situation, I think the question that you are posing – which you’ve called ‘Beyond Traditional Partnerships’ – becomes a very big issue.” Stigson pointed out that governments are limited to their national borders, but corporations are active worldwide. “Business … is operating across borders, where we’re looking for global solutions because we want to be able to optimize across borders.”
The world consists of three parts – government, business and civil society. “ The parts of society that have got resources – governments and business – have very little trust,” observed Stigson. “And then you’ve got civil society, which has no resources but has trust.” Stigson stated that there is a global deficit of trust. Stigson asked the NGO community “Are you willing to trade trust for being part of the solution or are you going to sit on the sidelines and be critical?” He asked what it would take to put away trust issues and become part of the solution. “What is the price of trust? What do you want in return for trading your trust for being part of the solution? For many of the leading NGOs, that’s a pretty tough question,” stated Stigson.
Stigson named academia and foundations as two of the greatest reservoirs of trust. “You have a lot of trust,” said Stigson. “How do we create trust for the tradeoffs that are needed in society? … Governments and business can sit down together but do not have the trust to make those tradeoffs.”
“There is a Chinese proverb that says ‘If you do not change direction, you will end up where you are going,’” said Stigson. “We are going down the FROG path, which is an unsustainable path. If we don’t change direction, that’s where we’ll end up.” Stigson stated his belief that governments will not take the reigns until there is a very serious crisis. “I think we need to find a way to go beyond traditional partnerships if we want to create a sustainable world going forward,” said 19 Stigson. Bellagio Forum Working Groups
Each of the working groups made a small presentation to update the Forum on what has been happening in each of their respective groups.
➢ Energy: • Dirk Hoffman of the Energy Group presented an update on the plant-oil cooker project. • Kurt Hoffman presented an overview of The Small-Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund (S3IDF) – details at www.bfsd.org.
➢ Water • Charles Buchanan updated the group on the trans-boundary water conference, which was sponsored by the Bellagio Forum – details at www.bfsd.org. • Andreas Kraemer summarized an ad-hoc meeting organized during the World Water Conference during which the Forum members discussed a variety of issues but especially those related to corruption and access. • Hans Friedrich presented a summary of a paper prepared by IUCN (available upon request) and presented concepts for the Working Group to concentrate on. The chairmanship of the group was passed from Andreas Kraemer to Ger Bergkamp.
➢ Awareness • Agreed to review the current status of the MDG project. • Discussed the group’s future areas of concentration.
➢ Health • Michèle Boccoz explained how this newest of BFSD working groups was in the process of identifying the main areas on which it would like to concentrate: infectious diseases, food quality and bridging the Franco-Anglo-Luso phone gaps in Africa.
➢ Finance • Jan-Olaf Willums updated the group on Bellagio’s PRIME toolkit designed for foundation trustees and managers of endowments.
Minutes from the Working Group Meetings on April 29th are available upon request. 20 Strategic Decisions A summary of the strategic discussion along with additional issues concerning the Forum was sent by the secretariat to all members on May 22nd, 2006.
Bellagio Commitment
Please see the next page for the current version.
Conclusions Michael Hoelz thanked the keynote speakers, guests and secretariat for their efforts and the meeting sponsors for their support. He summarized some of the major themes that had been repeated throughout the meeting that should be viewed as a challenge to the board and members and incorporated as part of the on-going discussion on the future identity of the Bellagio Forum:
• The overlap between sustainable development and human rights needs to be strengthened with greater communication between those promoting each topic. • Solutions to the challenges we face will only be found through collaborative efforts including business and governments. Foundations have a special role to play as catalysts and pioneers. • Foundations have an important and unique role to play in society’s move toward sustainable development – but only if they overcome the caution of past practices, take more risks and make themselves more accountable to those who they are trying to help. • Concentration of efforts in one country or region on a multitude of issues is a recommended alternative to a addressing a major theme more broadly • Foundations need to use their endowments more wisely as part of fulfilling their mission through mission and program related investment as well as exploring different practices of responsible investment. • The necessary trust to make difficult, but necessary, changes and choices is lacking with those who have the resources to do so. Often those with trust do not have the resources. They need to work together • Sustainable development will require integrating China and India as quickly and as fully as possible.
Next Meeting
Will be in December 2006 in Salzburg, Austria
21 The Bellagio Commitment We, who represent endowed foundations and grant-making entities, can play a unique role in society, as we are able to help overcome obstacles that impede societal change towards sustainable development*.
Because we have a different motivation than commercial organizations, governments and non-government organizations, we are free to:
• display a bolder vision, challenge the status quo, reflect broader values, and foster the dialogue among different stakeholders; • take a longer-term view in assessing the obstacles to and opportunities for moving towards sustainable development.
Therefore we have established our own set of principles that encourage transparency in our operations, and hold us accountable for the management of our assets and our grant programs.
We therefore commit our Foundations to:
1. in pursuit of our mission, actively and publicly promote Sustainable Development and ethical standards in all of our work and that of organizations with which we cooperate; and develop relevant action programs for this purpose; 2. regularly measure and report the impact of our programs in achieving our stated goals; 3. assess the extent to which our activities are aligned with the principles of the UN Global Compact and the Millennium Development Goals as well as economic and social rights; 4. ensure that the assets of our foundations, including staff, programs and financial endowments, are managed according to a transparent governance structure in line with our mission, and invested according to shared best practice of Sustainable Development.
We will report on our progress annually. We will strive to partner with and share our vision with others to fully realize the potential we have to catalyze positive change. We invite others, including the grantees we support, to sign the Bellagio Commitment.
1.……………………………….….. 4……………………………………
2.…………………………………… 5……………………………………
3……………………………………… 6……………………………………
* “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs” (Our Common Future, The Brundtland Report, 1987) 22 Meeting Sponsors:
23 Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development www.bfsd.org [email protected] Tel.: +49 541 96 33 490
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