H.E. Mary Robinson
7th President of Ireland, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Climate Change
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson was born on May 21st, 1944. She is an Irish Independent politician who served as the seventh President of Ireland, becoming the first woman to hold this office. She also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002. She is widely regarded as a transformative figure for Ireland, and for the Irish presidency, revitalising and liberalising a previously conservative, low-profile political office. After leaving the UN in 2002, Robinson formed Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative,which came to a planned end at the end of 2010. Robinson returned to live in Ireland at the end of 2010, and has set up The Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, which aims to be 'a center for thought leadership, education and advocacy on the struggle to secure global justice for those many victims of climate change. She is Chair of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and is also a founding member and chair of the Council of Women World Leaders.
1. The Global Environment Reconstruction Seminar Beijing Hotel, China
From May 22nd to 24th, 2015, H.E. Mary Robinson participated in the Global Environment Reconstruction Seminar hosted by BJ-SDC and International Scientific Exchange Foundation of China. During the seminar, H.E. Robinson said that climate change could be solved if we cared for each other and took actions to help each other.
2. Discussion meeting on Climate Change Dublin, Ireland
From July 22nd to 23rd, 2015, BJ-SDC delegation paid visit to Ms. Mary Robinson in Ireland and had a discussion meeting with Ms. Robinson on the topic of climate change. During the meeting, Ms. Robinson said that this critical year (2015) was like the year of 1945; it was a year of reconstruction and hope, and a new declaration to our common future would be made.
Attendees from BJ-SDC delegation include Former Chairman Christopher Chuang, Former Vice Chairman Tina Lan and Executive Vice Chairman Teresa Chuang. Attendees also include Yongjun He, Journalist of People’s Daily, Bo Ekman, Founder of Tällberg Foundation and Simon Jones, Consultant of The Prince’s Foundation.
9th President of Ireland
Higgins was born on April 18th, 1941. He is an Irish politician who has served as the President of Ireland since November 2011. He is also a poet, sociologist, and broadcaster. Higgins ran for a second term as President of Ireland in 2018 and was re-elected in a landslide victory. He has used his time in office to address issues concerning justice, social equality, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism, anti-racism and reconciliation. He also published four collections of his poetry and actively promoted the development of Irish language in the country.
BJ-SDC Paid Courtesy Visit to President Higgins Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin, Ireland
With the introduction of H.E. Mary Robinson, Irish President Higgins received BJ-SDC delegation at Áras an Uachtaráin (the official residence of President of Ireland). President Higgins pointed out that, in the new global order, China shouldered more responsibilities; we needed new ways and new institutions to welcome challenges we were facing today. He also thought the work done by BJ-SDC was important and valuable.
Attendees from BJ-SDC delegation include Former Chairman Christopher Chuang, Former Vice Chairman Tina Lan and Executive Vice Chairman Teresa Chuang.Attendees also include Yongjun He, Journalist of People’s Daily, Bo Ekman, Founder of Tällberg Foundation and Simon Jones, Consultant of The Prince’s Foundation.
6th President of Latvia, President of Club of Madrid, President of World Leadership Alliance
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was born December 1st, 1937. She is a Latvian politician who served as the 6th President of Latvia and the first female President of Latvia. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected for the second term in 2003.
As President of the Republic of Latvia 1999–2007, she was instrumental in achieving membership in the European Union and NATO for her country. She is active in international politics, was named Special Envoy to the Secretary General on United Nations reform and was official candidate for UN Secretary General in 2006.
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga currently serves as the President of Club of Madrid, the world's largest forum of former Heads of State and Government.1. Svalbard Gathering 2016 Svalbard, Norway
Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga participated in the 2016 Svalbard Gathering in May 2016. This event was hosted by Aurora Borealis Foundation and BJ-SDC in Longyearbyen, Svalbard where the Seed Vault was located. It was a grand event nurturing dialogs between minds, thoughts and nature.
Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga delivered keynote speeches at the conference. She mentioned that despite the real Seed Vault in Svalbard, we also had a seed vault of thought gathering different thinking and views of human beings in history. She hoped that participants would be inspired during the conference, understand each other and exchange the kindness beyond the barrier of languages. She wished all of us could connect together to resist the recession and share a helping hand for other people’s improvement.
Over 150 domestic and international attendees participated in the conference. It is a gathering of the most intelligent people in the intelligentsia and cultural areas. Jan Eliasson, Former Deputy General Secretary of United Nations and HRH Prince Charles of United Kingdom specially recorded speech videos for the conference. Other distinguished participants including H.R.H Prince Turki al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia; Anders Kompass, Senior Official of UN; Börje Ljunggren, Former Swedish Ambassador to China; Anders Wijkman, Co-president of the Club of Rome; Erik Berglof, Director of LSE Institute of Global Affairs; Eric Rasmussen, International Disaster Response and Emerging Infections Specialist; Mario Tokoro, Founder and Executive Advisor of Sony Computer Science Laboratories; David Christian, Historian and Author of Maps of Time: An Introduction to Bid History and Nora Bateson, President of International Bateson Institute, etc.
2. Tällberg Gathering 2017 Tällberg, Sweden
Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga attended the Tällberg Gathering 2017 hosted by BJ-SDC and Aurora Borealis Foundation. It is a small and high-level workshop on the theme “What do we mean by Humanity? What is it?”
Many distinguished guests participated in the workshop, including Christopher Chuang, Honorary Chairman of BJ-SDC and Co-founder of Aurora Borealis Foundation; Bo-Ekman, Co-founder of Aurora Borealis Foundation; Simon Jones, CEO of Aurora Borealis Foundation; Jan Eliasson, Former Deputy General Secretary of United Nations; Angelika Cawdor, Dowager Countess of Cawdor Castle in UK; Anders Wijkman, Co-president of the Club of Rome; Hans-Olov Olsson, Vice Chair of Volvo Car Corporation; Colin Jones, Trustee of Desmond Tutu Peace Center, etc.
Tällberg is the birth place of Tällberg Foundation and Tällberg Forum. Although it is a small town of 200 residents, it has gathered over 4000 international government officials, scholars and entrepreneurs over the past nine years.
3. Gathering: From Tällberg to Beijing Beijing, China
In the afternoon of June 22nd, 2017, Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Former President of Latvia joined in the gathering with members of BJ-SDC and some attendees of Tällberg Gathering hosted in early June, 2017.
Dr. Vike-Freiberga was also very pleased to meet all the guests in Beijing. After hearing the introduction of BJ-SDC by Chairman Liu Wei, she expressed her admiration to the effort of committee in promoting sustainable development in various areas, some of which were just same to what Madrid Club was trying to advance, and she looked forward to have deeper cooperation with BJ-SDC in the future. Then Dr. Vike-Freiberga had brief conversation with each of the attendee and understood the career they were committed to.
