Article
by Vladimir V. Putin
�������� At the beginning of 2006,
Russia assumed the G8 Presidency. We understand very well that this requires
serious work and implies a great deal of responsibility. It is not the
organizational activities alone that lie ahead. More importantly, we will need
to discuss and jointly determine the priorities and substantive areas of work
for this highly respected forum, which has served as a key mechanism for
coordinating approaches to meeting the most significant challenges of world
development for more than thirty years.
�������� We have suggested to our
partners that we should focus on three serious and pressing issues: global energy
security, combating infectious diseases, and education. These three priorities
are oriented towards achieving an objective which we hope is clear to all our
partners, namely improving the quality of life and living standards of the
present and future generations.
*������� *������� *
�������� The establishment of a
reliable and comprehensive system of energy security is clearly one of the
strategic goals for the G8 and the world community as a whole. Today, global
energy is an important and true engine of social and economic progress. This is
why it directly affects the well-being of billions of people around the globe.
�������� During the Russian
Presidency, not only will we seek to develop fundamental approaches to meeting
current challenges in this field but also outline our coordinated policy for
the long term.
�������� Today, the lack of
stability in the hydrocarbon markets poses a real threat to global energy
supply. In particular, the gap between supply and demand continues to widen.
The apparent increase in energy consumption in Asian countries is caused not
only by market fluctuations but also by a host of other factors related to
policy and security. In order to stabilize the situation in this field,
coordinated activities of the entire world community are needed.
�������� The new policy of the
leading world countries should be based on the understanding that the
globalization of the energy sector makes energy security indivisible. Our
common future in the area of energy means common responsibilities, risks and
benefits.
�������� In our view, it is especially
important to develop a strategy for achieving global energy security. It should
be based on a long-term, reliable and environmentally sustainable energy supply
at prices affordable to both the exporting countries and the consumers. In
addition to reconciling the interests of stakeholders in the global energy
interaction, we will have to identify practical measures aimed at ensuring
sustainable access of the world economy to traditional sources of energy, as
well as promoting energy-saving programmes and developing alternative energy
sources.
�������� A balanced and fair energy
supply is undoubtedly a pillar of global security at present and in the years
to come. We ought to pass on to the future generations a world energy
architecture that would help avoid conflicts and counterproductive competition
for energy security. This is why it is essential to find common approaches to
creating a solid and long-term energy base for our civilization.
In this connection, Russia calls on
the G8 countries and the international community to focus their efforts on
developing innovative technologies. This could serve as an initial step in
creating a technological basis for energy supply of mankind in the future, when
the energy potential in its present form is exhausted.
�������� Global energy security
will also benefit from an integrated approach to enhancing energy efficiency of
the social and economic development. The G8 made important progress towards
elaborating it last year in Gleneagles, including, in particular, the adoption
of the Plan of Action aimed at promoting innovation, energy saving and
environmental protection. We find it crucially important to engage non-G8
countries, especially fast-growing and industrializing economies, in
participating in the G8 initiatives and, particularly, in implementing the
document adopted at Gleneagles.
�������� The way most people see
it, energy security has mainly to do with the interests of industrially
developed countries. It should be kept in mind, however, that almost two
billion people in today's world do not enjoy modern-day energy services, while
many of them lack access to even electricity. Their access to many benefits and
advances of civilization has been virtually blocked.
�������� Needless to say, energy
alone would not solve the poverty problem. At the same time, lack of energy
resources throughout different regions significantly hinders economic growth
while their unsustainable use may result in an ecological disaster on a global
rather than local scale.
�������� Lately, experts have been
actively discussing ways of increasing energy use in developing countries
through a more intensive development of non-conventional energy sources. And
this is where assistance rendered by the G8 in developing and introducing
alternative power facilities becomes ever so important.
�������� Generally speaking, all of
us should recognize and admit that �energy egoism� in a modern and highly
interdependent world is a road to nowhere. Therefore Russia's attitude towards
energy security remains clear and unchanged. It is our strong belief that
energy redistribution guided wholly by the priorities of a small group of most
developed countries does not serve the goals and purposes of global
development. We will strive to create an energy security system sensitive to
the interests of the whole international community. Basically all it takes is
for the mankind to create a balanced potential in order to provide every State
with sustainable energy supply, and international cooperation opens all avenues
for that.
*������� *������� *
�������� Throughout its history,
the human race finds itself fighting against a genuine threat to its survival �
that of the spread of infectious diseases. The progress made might seem
encouraging: smallpox was eliminated once and for all throughout the world
while fight against poliomyelitis is drawing to a close. Yet our times are also
plagued by the outbreaks of both known and new and highly dangerous diseases
such as AIDS, exotic viral hemorrhagic fever, microplasma infections, and bird
flu. Today, infections account for every third death in the world. According to
experts, in the years to come there is a high probability of a new strain of
pandemic influenza that would claim millions of lives.
�������� Russia would like to
suggest the reactivation of efforts in this regard, including the adoption of a
strategic action plan of the G8 to fight bird flu and prevent new human flu
pandemics.
�������� In general, the Group
should not and must not stay indifferent to such enormous challenges as
combating infectious diseases. The uneven development of health systems as well
as unequal financial capabilities and scientific potential required to fight
epidemics lead to uneven distribution of global resources allocated to the
fight against infections.
�������� Marked by a different
degree of intensity in different regions, infectious diseases, working as a
litmus test, expose social and economic problems, aggravate social inequality
and contribute to discrimination. Thus, people infected with HIV and other
dangerous diseases find themselves in an alarming situation as they are
essentially marginalized and have to cope both with their disease and the
difficulties of adapting to a full life in society.
There is another fundamental aspect. In recent years, our world has suffered the devastation of earthquakes, floods and tsunamis with increasing frequency. Urbanization, wider transport networks and industrial infrastructure make us much more vulnerable to these emergencies than before. They cause damage not only to the economy and social sphere; their heaviest toll is the outbreaks of infectious diseases, which claim thousands of lives. Therefore we view as another priority the establishment of a global system for natural disaster warning and mitigating their epidemiological consequences.
Thought might also be given to the possibility
of creating a unified infrastructure capable of responding to the emergence and
spread of epidemic in a prompt manner. This infrastructure must include a
monitoring, information and scientific methodology exchange system that can
promptly respond to emergencies.
The so-called humanitarian crises,
in particular related to military conflicts, are the root cause of many
large-scale diseases. As a result, the threat of effective disease area spread
is increased many times over. I am convinced that the G8 will be able to
consolidate international efforts in dealing with such emergencies and give a
strong impetus to multilateral interaction in this area.
Of course, the G8 should continue to
promote scientific capacity-building and pool together intellectual and
material resources of the world community for the development of new safe
vaccines and promising highly sensitive means to diagnose infectious diseases,
as well as for the implementation of education and prevention programmes.
*������� *������� *
Our
common tasks in the area of education deserve serious attention. In a
post-industrial information society, education becomes a prerequisite for
success in the daily life and a major input into the economic development. It
is one of the most important elements of a growing social identity, moral
values and stronger democracy. Moreover, as technologies improve, labor market
favors higher-skilled specialists, and education requirements are constantly
increasing as a result. Its goals and content are consequently changing. Today,
possessing a certain amount of knowledge and skills is not enough; one has to
be ready to constantly upgrade and adapt them to new requirements.
Access to global wealth of
information dramatically changes education methodologies themselves. Transfer
to continuous education is taking place now. Preconditions are in place to form
a common education space. Certainly, these trends are gaining momentum,
primarily in developing countries. At the same time, many nations and regions
still face an acute problem of accessibility of even the basic education. We
view this as a true "humanitarian disaster", as a serious threat to
the world community. Widespread illiteracy is a breeding ground for the
advocates of inter-civilizational strife, xenophobia and national and religious
extremism, and in the final analysis for international terrorist activities.
In this context, it is important to
formulate a wider and more systematic approach to education in both developing
countries and the world at large. In particular, if the employment problem is
to be successfully resolved, the notion of education must, as it seems, include
not only general education but also vocational and technical training
encompassing all levels of education, from basic to higher one.
In the conditions of growing
mobility of world population and steady increase in migration, the problem of
integration into a different cultural environment acquires special importance.
Obviously, it is education that makes possible mutual social adaptation of various
cultural, ethnic and confessional groups. Hence, special attention should be
paid to upgrading education systems for the attainment of these goals both in
developed and developing countries.
�������� Many developing countries
experience serious difficulties with introducing advanced education methods and
information technologies. In this respect, it is necessary to make more
efficient use of the most advanced resources, including the Internet and other
newest means of information and knowledge distribution, in the field of
education. A fruitful debate on this subject took place last November in
Tunisia during the second stage of the World Summit on Information Society; we
have been carefully reviewing the Summit outcomes and intend to use them.
�������� Russia stands ready to
assist in mobilizing the world community's efforts aimed at raising the quality
and compatibility of requirements to professional education as a key condition
for the use and propagation of innovations. All stakeholders in global economic
development and the international labor market in general are interested in
this. The responsiveness of educational institutions to the demands of
high-tech sectors is a necessary precondition for the competitiveness of
national economies.��
*������� *������� *
�������� Along with the three
priorities on the agenda of the Russian Presidency� mentioned above, the G8 will continue in 2006
its work on such key issues as the fight against international terrorism and
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Group will remain focused
on the problems of development assistance as well as the prevention of
environmental degradation and critical issues of the world economy, finance and
trade. And certainly, as before, our efforts will remain focused on the
settlement of regional conflicts, primarily in the Middle East and in Iraq, and
on stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan.
�������� We fully realize that not
a single Presidency is capable of offering comprehensive solutions to the
problems of the modern world being discussed by the G8. At the same time, from
summit to summit, the Group is getting a better vision of these problems and
strives to find the most workable approaches to their solution through its
joint efforts.
�������� Russia is ready to
contribute actively to further progress in this direction. Continuity and
evolution ‑ these words are the motto of the Russian Presidency
that has commenced.�����
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08.02.2006
fin43/pc3