Today, Italian Ambassador to the U.S. Mariangela Zappia delivered opening remarks on the Italian G20 Presidency and COP26 at the event hosted by the Meridian International Center, a nonprofit, diplomacy center in Washington, D.C.
“International collaboration is such a timely topic. As chair of the G20, Italy chose the motto ‘People, Planet and Prosperity’ and put at the core of the agenda multilateralism” said Ambassador Zappia, adding that “Italy is committed to make a difference, and turn the G20 back to its original purpose: being the place where leaders of the major economies share visions, responsibilities, and act on goals”.
Ambassador Zappia touted the progress made during the Italian G20 presidency on education, labor, food security, climate change, culture, on the finance track with the historic agreement on international taxation, on pressing geopolitical challenges like Africa and Afghanistan, with a cross cutting focus on reducing inequalities and women empowerment.
The “Prioritizing People and Planet” virtual event brought together top diplomatic, business, and government leaders to discuss the intersection of diplomacy and emerging environmental, social and governance policy issues. The topics discussed included climate change and its impact on business and community planning; national security and foreign policy priorities; and global youth and corporate activism and its impact across all aspects of society.
The event featured welcome remarks from Ambassador Stuart Holliday, CEO of Meridian and several fireside conversations between the following experts and government officials:
– Dr. Mircea Geoană, Deputy Secretary General for NATO in conversation with Vivian Salama, National Security Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal
– Bill McDermott, CEO, ServiceNow in conversation with Julia Chatterly, First Move Anchor for CNN
– T.H. Jose Fernandez, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in conversation with Ambassador Stuart Holliday
– Congresswoman Young Kim (R-CA) in conversation with Ambassador Piper Campbell, American University School of Foreign Service
Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi in conversation with Carolina Chimoy, U.S. Correspondent for DW News
