Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères

In February 1991, at the first plenary session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, the prospect of successfully negotiating a Framework Convention on Climate Change seemed problematical at best. The complexity of the issues, the continuing scientific uncertainty about the causes and the impacts of the historically observed climate change, the wide range of countries' diverging views as to what action (if any) should be taken, the decision by many southern countries that the responsibility for action to reduce the risks of climate change should fall to the industrialized nations—each of these aspects of the situation in which negotiations began seemed to present insurmountable obstacles to the early conclusion of a worldwide agreement. They certainly made it seem unlikely that any agreement could be reached which would include significant commitments to emissions reductions or legal constraints on economically important activities. To complicate the situation further, economic crises and changing political priorities focused public interest on other challenges. For those at the highest levels of government, in the industrial countries in particular, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf war, and the upheaval in Eastern Europe emerged in turn to divert political attention away from the climate issue.

Abstract The ocean has recently taken centre stage in the global geopolitical landscape. Despite rising challenges to the effectiveness of multilateralism, attention to ocean issues appears as an opportunity to co-create pathways to ocean sustainability at multiple levels. The ocean science community, however, is not sufficiently well organised to advance these pathways and provide policy input. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services demonstrate how knowledge consensus and integration have been instrumental in charting global pathways and eliciting commitments to address, respectively, climate change and biodiversity loss. An equally impactful global platform with a thematic focus on ocean sustainability is needed. Here we introduce the International Panel for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS) as a coordinating mechanism to integrate knowledge systems to forge a bridge across ocean science-policy divides collectively. The IPOS will enrich the global policy debate in the Ocean Decade and support a shift toward ocean sustainability.

The Franceville International Centre for Medical Research (CIRMF) organized a first international symposium on infectious diseases, environments, and biodiversity. Over 200 international experts gathered in Gabon to forecast and work to prevent the emergence of infectious diseases. This symposium aimed to strengthen the regional and international fight against the emergence of infectious diseases with high-level scientific debates. Toward this goal, it brought together experts in human and animal health, the environment, and ecology, including biologists, climatologists, microbiologists, epidemiologists, public health professionals, and human and social sciences specialists. National, regional and international participants were present to debate on the challenges related to the emergence of infectious diseases and on the responses to be implemented. The symposium was very successful, and plans for a second symposium of this kind to be held in the near future in another high-biodiversity area are already underway.

Abstract France had trade deals with several Balkan countries, which were often carried out by private firms that exchanged mutual interest. It would be of interest that even with Albania resumed exchanges for a category of articles despite the lack of a regular convention. Their purpose was to resume the works on kerosene requirements. This brought about the improvement of the Albanian economy and meeting the needs of the France for these products, which in turn strengthened even more the economic and political relations of the two countries. With the insistence of the French side, on August 1956, a trade agreement was signed between Albania and France, where the French Government allowed the exchange of goods between the two countries as a compensation to French firms seeking to collaborate with our country. It is worth pointing out that the trade relations that Albania had with France until 1964 was generally satisfactory. Albania's export and import plans were satisfactorily fulfilled and a better basis for new successes in forecasts and plans for the future in 1965 was provided. In the official talks with the French side in mid eighties, the Albanian side proposed the establishment of a joint group within the Chambers of Commerce to look at the possibilities of France purchasing our minerals and the possibilities of Albania buying their equipment. Based on the credits opened by French firms and our foreign trade enterprises, the release of the respective goods was followed in both directions. Thus, our companies have been releasing confectionery, towels, clothespins, chairs etc. French companies have continued to release electronic equipment, clay, oil spill delta and various exchange parts. Several other economic agreements were signed between two countries which increased the level of Albanian exports towards France.