Expert opinion

	03.12.06 Victoria Panova G8 research group, University of Toronto, Director for Russia
	03.12.06 Mona Bricke German NGO Forum Environment and Development
	03.12.06 Nigel Martin Montreal International Rorum (FIM)
	02.12.06 John Kirton Head of G8 Research Group, University of Toronto
	02.12.06 Regina Gunter Head of the WWF Germany

Angela Merkel 's meetings with leaders of international NGOs

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Has Met with Leaders of International NGOs. Ella Pamfilova, Coordinator of the “Civil G8-2006" National Working Group, Spoke for Russia At the Meeting

January 16, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Berlin with leaders of respected International NGOs in order to review Germany’s G8 Presidency. Ella Pamfilova, Coordinator of the “Civil G8-2006" National Working Group, represented Russia at this meeting. The dialogue focused on the upcoming Japan’s G8 Presidency, as well as on the issues of climate change and sustainable development.

Speaking at the meeting, Ella Pamfilova expressed gratitude to Angela Merkel for continuing dialogue with non-governmental organizations in 2007. Besides, she announced messages addressed by Russian NGOs to the G8. As Ella Pamfilova stressed, Russia’s NGOs welcomed the continuity in realizing initiative of NGO-engagement into the G8 as well as that the leaders of the world’s most developed countries had started listening to civil society. Nevertheless, she noted that the potential of the third sector was not realized in full, although the skills and citizenship of non-partisan NGOs would have been able to help significantly in working out strategic political decisions.

The coordinator of the “Civil G8-2006" National Working Group repeatedly advocated the appropriateness of a meeting between all the G8 leaders and chiefs of major International NGOs, as this idea had been proposed at the meeting of INGOs with Russia’s President Putin in 2006.

Speaking about the sustainable development, Ella Pamfilova suggested the G8 countries to set up exchange of information and experience in developing national strategies of education for sustainable development and practices of their implementation. She stressed that the G8, as an informal club of countries that pretend to a global leadership, would have been able to pledge support to promoting education for sustainable development worldwide.

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of many Russian NGO leaders, like Sergey Tsyplenkov (Greenpeace Russia), Olga Ponizova (Eco-Accord) and others who helped to prepare documents to Ella Pamfilova’s meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Expert opinion

	02.12.06 Halter Marek Le College de France
	02.12.06 Olivier Giscard d’Estaing COPAM, France
	02.12.06 Mika Ohbayashi Institute for Sustainable Energy Poliсy
	02.12.06 Bill Pace World Federalist Movement - Institute for Global Policy
	01.12.06 Peter I. Hajnal Toronto University, G8 Research Group