Personal
Strengthening cooperation with South Africa
December 5, 2007
Strengthening cooperation with South Africa
Last week I was in South Africa. For the first time. Cape Town was bathing in sun. It was more than 25 degrees Celsius. A very short, but most welcome change from the grey reality of late Brussels autumn. Table Mountain was proudly boiling the white milk of clouds on its top, while the heat coming from the shore was preventing that this white cloth would touch the sea level. Unforgettable.
I had a privilege to be the co-chair together with my counterparts from South Africa, China and USA at the 4th Group of Earth Observation (GEO) Ministerial Summit in Cape Town. Representatives of over 70 countries and over 40 international organisations met there to assess progress made and decide on next steps that would bring us to creation of a system of systems, GEOSS, which will interconnect the world’s diverse earth monitoring systems over the coming decade and help tackle many of today’s challenges, such as depletion of natural resources, the emergence of new diseases, climate change, the impact of migration and the loss of biodiversity. The feeling which remained in me while leaving the country is certainly one of huge positive energy present throughout the summit. The event was a really good example of international community working together in order to fight the global challenges we face today. Voluntary, but powerful! I felt proud to be part of that clearly emerging movement.
During my visit to South Africa I had also an opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of science and technology agreement between European Union and South Africa, together with South African Minister Mangena - a kind, knowledgeable, open minded and above all, very human person. In ten years the cooperation strengthened and expanded and today South Africa is one of EU’s main third countries partner in international cooperation in S&T. I was really pleased to see the efforts made by our South African partners to engage in research with us in European Union. They are enthusiastic and well organised and the results are clearly more than evident.
It would be superb if this kind of cooperation could be strengthened across the whole of Africa. We are already providing a lot of development aid to Africa, but the best way to help them in the long run would certainly be by strengthening their own capacities, including the ones in the research area. One initiative in this way is the EDCTP which has been conceived as a genuine partnership between 14 EU countries, Switzerland and Norway on one hand, and African countries. The EDCTP is an innovative and daring step in the effort to pool research capacities in the fight against poverty diseases. I had the pleasure to visit the EDCTP African Office. Their job is not easy and challenges are big. But real changes are happening on the ground. However there is no place for complacency. We, all together, have to step up our efforts towards Africa. We should do better and we should do more - because that is the right thing to do!
Print This Post
Email This Post
RSS comments feed on this entry
December 12th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
I’ve been a habitual reader of your blog since I found it and generally admire the tone and content of your postings. But this one is exceptional. Well done on capturing the heart of the African challenge ahead.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Dear Janez,
Please give all your support to your colleague Stavros Dimas with his proposal to stop two GM maize. This proposal is based on scientific evidence, but it seems it’s never enough, so a bit of human imput would be great.
Thank you
December 13th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Hello Mr. Potočnik
My name is Miguel Gallardo, I am a scientist and citizen worried about European sustainable future. I am also Speaker of Environmental Working Group for the European Student Forum, an NGO for young active europeans, altough I write this lines on personal Behalf
I urge you to please VOTE IN FAVOUR OF THE PROPOSAL BY Environment Commissioner STAVROS DIMAS to reject the authorisation of two types of GM maize.
I encourage you to do so, in line with the precautionary principle as laid down in EU law. If GM crops are not yet been demonstrated to be completely safe, obviously we shouldn’t have them until that happens! As you are aware, in these ocassions is really difficult to repair the consequences if the time proves that they are harmful to our environment and our societies.
Attempts by industry to delay and derail a European Commission decision should be resisted.
Miguel Gallardo
December 14th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Dear Commissioner,
GM crops
I understand from your blog that you are considering moving towards acceptance of GM crops, for practical reasons of not being able to stand up to other regions which have accepted them I urge you not to do this for the following reasons:
1 GM crops can spread through nature and interbreed with natural organisms, contaminating the environment in ways we neither know nor as yet understand
2 the biodiversity and environmental integrity of the world’s food supply is too important to our survival to be subjected to such an unknown risk
3 GM poses threats to human and animal health (in experiments with animals able to choose between GM crops and natural crops they have always chosen the non GM alternative) Again we do not know the risks
4 No long term tests have been run on health issues, we do not know the long term toxicity
5 GM in Europe will jeopardise the large and growing organic market, which is worth around €21bn in Europe, with some 15% of land in Sweden and 25% of land in Lithuania under organic cultivation or in conversion. It is important not to make life more difficult for New Member States when they are trying so hard to improve their agriculture.
I urge you to accept the Precautionary Principle and to follow the Dimas Proposal which is based on scientific evidence.
Please do not allow GM to enter Europe.
NO TO GMO!!!!!
Sincerely hoping that you hear mine, and many other people’s voice!
João Aguiar
from Portugal
December 28th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
I am a member of the coordination unit of STREN project, financed under FP6 and coordinated by the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy and SMEs. It aims to promote the scientific and technological cooperation between Tunisia and EU.
I am glad to say that African collaboration in the field of sciences and technolgy with Europe is becoming a vital way for mutual benefit of their research innovation systems.
Working together to get the best fruits.
Thank you.
Ramzi Zammali
From Tunisia