PNG to provide climate stability, says minister

PAPUA New Guinea is in a position to be a provider of climate stability, clean air and water, clean energy and food to the world, says National Planning Minister Charles Abel.
Abel, who attended the World Economic Forum annual meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China spoke of the need for governments to ensure that they were not stifling innovation and change but were managing change for human benefit within a sustainable development paradigm, not letting the changes and corporate-driven motives manage us.
“How do we utilise new technology to help us leapfrog out of the old paradigm and economy?
“We need support and partnerships for us and the rest of the developing world to do this so we can convert our natural resources into a long term sustainable economy for our benefit and the stability of the planet’s ecosystems and social and economic systems.”
The forum is a convening of 1500 business leaders, policy makers and experts for a global summit on innovation, science and technology.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attended along with heads of companies leading innovation such as Uber, Airbnb and Alibaba.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is the world premier organisation for the improvement of collaboration between the public and private sectors.
They conduct two annual global forums a year, the annual convention in Davos, Switzerland, and the New Champions meeting in China, sometimes called the ‘summer Davos’. WEF also convenes regional forums like the recent WEF for ASEAN.
The convention was focused on “the fourth industrial revolution and its transformational impact’’.
Founder of the WEF, Prof Klaus Schwab, described the Fourth Industrial Revolution in his recent book of the same title, which explains the rapid and unprecedented advances in technology which are forcing us to rethink how countries develop, organisations create value and what it means to be human.
“Governments need to be aware of such change and how it is affecting and will affect the way nearly everything is done, including the delivery of education and health, financing, energy, and the way business is run.
“It is a world with accelerated changes happening, and combined with climate change, terrorism conflict and refugee flows, we are faced with challenges and uncertainty.
“How does PNG plan and respond to these changes? Is the developing world being left behind?
“How do we combine our StaRS programme with fourth industrial technology to create and be part of a new economy and not be left behind?”
Abel met and discussed with Schwab, and participated in eight meetings.
Abel was by accompanied by Anthony Smare, who is chairman of Nambawan Super Global Leader under the WEF.