Chinese Premier Li Qiang had a strong presence at the Paris June 22-23 Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, and Brazilian President Lula da Silva made a powerful intervention.
The Chinese role is welcomed in Africa, as made clear by attendees at the Summit. Kenyan President William Ruto stressed at the closing press conference of the Paris Summit that it was important to work with China in the face of climate change. “Tensions between China and the West are useless,” Ruto said.
Brazilian President Ignacio Lula da Silva spoke extemporaneously and made a big deal about Dilma Rouseff, the President of the BRICS New Development Bank, being at the Paris Summit also. Some excerpts of his remarks:
“…I came here to speak about how, along with the climate issue, we have to raise the issue of global inequality. It is not possible that in a meeting between presidents of important countries, the word inequality does not appear. Inequality in salary, inequality in race, inequality in gender, inequality in education, inequality in health.
“In other words, we are in an increasingly unequal world, and wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer people, and poverty is concentrated in the hands of more people. If we don’t discuss this issue of inequality, and if we don’t give it as much priority as the climate issue, we can have a very good climate and people will continue to die of hunger in many countries of the world….
