Prime Minister Mark Rutte y former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In October 2018, The Hague became the theater for one of the most significant acts on climate change so far: the launch of the Global Commission on Adaptation. The initiative, launched by a series of high level personalities with the support of several countries, calls for stepping up efforts to mitigate the negative effects of climate change globally. The Global Commission on Adaptation was launched and supported by a large number of high-level political leaders, including former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure Cora van Nieuwenhuizen. The initiative was supported by a wide range of countries from all over the world, namely India, China, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, Argentina, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Senegal, Marshall Island, Grenada. Moreover, the Global Center on Adaptation and the World Resource Institute are the Commission’s managing partners.

Among its different tasks, the Global Commission will supervise the elaboration of a report, containing precise recommendations, that will be presented in 2019 at the UN Climate Summit. The report will be elaborated by several experts and institutions from different parts of the world, and will not only highlight risks related to climate change, but also present concrete actions to be taken by governments, companies, and citizens to address such issue. In doing so, the Commission will form coalitions, bringing together the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders in order to align actions in tackling the challenge of climate change. Speaking about climate change, Minister van Nieuwenhuizen noted that the world is facing one of the biggest challenges in its entire history, and highlighted that the Commission is here “to begin changing the course of history and to secure the future of our global societies.” Similarly, Dutch PM Rutte stressed that tackling climate change is an extremely urgent issue, for which planning and cooperation will be needed. In this sense, he noted that the Netherlands has some expertise to share on water management, and it is already cooperating with countries such as Indonesia and Bangladesh. Speaking about the fight against climate change negative effects, former UNSG Ban Ki-moon stressed the importance of adaptation, which is “the smarter thing to do,” but also noted that “not a single country can do it alone.” On this line, the German Minister of Economy advocated for the protection of the least fortunate. As World Bank CEO Georgieva noted, “it is a cruel irony that those who have least contribute to the climate change are the ones who are affected and least able to prepare.” In a touching declaration, the President of the Marshall Island described the effects of rising sea levels in the country, which “cannot be abandoned.” Also, a number of high-level contributions, such as those of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, and incoming UN High Commissioner for Refugees Michelle Bachelet, came in via video. Bill Gates strongly praised the Commission’s focus on actions and results, and advocated for a prominent role of technology in leading the adaptation effort. Michelle Bachelet too contributed via video to the Commission’s launch, stressing that “we need to ensure all people have the tools to adapt” to the emerging challenges related to climate change. In addition to the aforementioned speakers, several other high-level leaders attended the launch as part of the Commission: among them, the Prime Minister of Grenada, the President of the African Development Bank, the Secretary General of the IFRC, the Executive Secretary and the former Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, a Senator of the Philippines, a former Finance Minister of Mexico, the German Minister of economy, the Minister of Ecology of China, the Mayors of Paris and Miami, members of the UK Environment Agency, and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica. Each one contributed with short and focused speeches on particular issues. Also some ambassadors attended the event in support to global actions on climate change: among them, the ambassadors of Japan, India, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, the Philippines, Mexico, and Denmark. While climate change remains a persistent and dangerous global challenge, it is encouraging to note that such a wide range of countries and high-profile leaders are actively trying to address this challenge.      

OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr. Fernando Arias, and Belgium’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW, H.E. Mr. Christian LePage. The Hague, Netherlands — 22 October 2018 — The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium has contributed €2 million to a special Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Trust Fund to support the project to upgrade the current OPCW Laboratory and Equipment Store through the construction of a new facility. The new facility will be known as the OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology. The donation was formalised with an exchange of letters by the OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and Belgium’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Christian Lepage, at a signing ceremony on 19 October 2018 at the OPCW headquarters in The Hague. “I would like to express my appreciation to the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium on behalf of the OPCW for this generous contribution that will help to ensure that the Organisation remains fit-for-purpose, as well as for Belgium’s longstanding collaboration with the OPCW in upholding the global ban on chemical weapons,” the Director-General said. “This project, which serves the goal of eliminating all chemical weapons, is an important priority to Belgium. As the country where the first mass chemical gas attack took place during the First World War, we are highly mindful of the human consequences of the use of chemical weapons,” expressed H.E. Mr Christian Lepage. The OPCW Laboratory and Equipment Store are central to the effectiveness and integrity of the verification regime of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and they also contribute to the OPCW’s capacity building and international cooperation activities. However, the current facility is no longer fit-for-purpose due to aging infrastructure, space constraints, larger workloads, and new missions with new areas of work. A new facility is required to meet the demands of OPCW Member States for increased verification and capacity-building activities, and for the OPCW to keep pace with developments in science and technology and new chemical weapons threats. The OPCW Technical Secretariat is developing a detailed project plan for the construction of the Centre for Chemistry and Technology, and a Trust Fund for voluntary contributions has been established to secure the required resources for the project. The Director-General concluded with an appeal to all OPCW Member States in a position to make voluntary contributions to do so. He reiterated that “All contributions, regardless of size, are greatly appreciated”.

By Roy Lie Atjam. A remarkable bicycling spree in The Hague, it brought a good number of enthusiasts members of the diplomatic community together on Saturday 20 October 2018. The objective was inclusion, informal mingling which might lead to lasting contacts and having fun. The tour departed from Hotel Crowne Plaza and travelled in the direction of downtown Den Haag, parliament square, haagschebos and other interesting historical and tourist sites. For additional Kim Vermaat’s pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/109407424@N02/albums/72157699504162562

The bicyclists were enthusiastic, encouraging feedbacks have been received, some have posted pictures of the tour on social media. Following the bike ride, the participants met for lunch at a restaurant in the Rosarium  Westbroekpark. Diplomat magazine highly appreciates the participation of all who have contributed to our Third Biking Spree.

Such were: diplomats from Mexico, Bulgaria, Russia, Italy, Sweden, India and South Africa. Also Ambassadors from Croatia, Finland, Malaysia. Interesting to note, the Ambassador of Malaysia brought along his personal guests, among them a former member of parliament. Other participants were the IOM Chief of Mission and a representative of the EU parliament.

On the picture  speaker Mr. Bernardo J. García García, Chair Hispanic Society of The Hague,  Ms. Edith Bergansius,  Ambassador of Spain H.E.  Ms. María J. Alonso and Mr.  Luis Tejero González, cultural attaché of the Spanish Embassy. Conference by Dr. Bernardo J. García García, Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the Complutense University. To mark the beginning of the ’80 years war’ in 1568, the Spanish Embassy in The Hague, Instituto Cervantes (Utrecht) and the Hispanic Society of The Hague organized the  lecture Pacification strategies of the Dutch Revolt. Ideas, means and actors in a cultural perspective at Carlton Ambassador Hotel, The Hague, in Spanish language, principally for  the members of the Asociación Hispánica de La Haya. In 2009, on the occasion of 400 years of the 12 years Truce, the Asociación Hispánica de La Haya had organised a ‘Spanish Day’ in the Historical Museum of The Hague with Bernardo J. García García as key speaker, so they did not hesitate to invite him again for the 450 years conmemmoration. Other than being an excellent speaker, he was also in charge of several expositions in Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands related to this specific subjet. In order to maximize his visit from Madrid, he also spoke in the Rijksmuseum -together with two other speakers- on Sunday, October 14.