Two U.N Ambassadors Honored By Pace for Environmental Diplomacy
In recognition of their exemplary leadership in drafting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, Pace University School of Law and the International Council of Environmental Law conferred upon Ambassador Macharia Kamau of Kenya and Ambassador Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary the 2014 Elizabeth Haub Award for Environmental Diplomacy on July 28.
Pace provost Uday Sukhatme presided at the awards ceremony, which was attended by the diplomatic corps.
Christian and Liliane Haub, continuing their family’s ardent support for the development of environmental law, were in attendance to confer the solid gold medals on the ambassadors, and Pace Law School Dean David Yassky conferred the diplomas certifying their accomplishments.
“Ambassador Macharia Kamau and Ambassador Csaba Kőrösi are rightfully being honored for their extraordinary service in helping to establish a set of visionary sustainable development goals,” said Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. “Without their tireless efforts we would not be where we are today.”
The Haub Award for Environmental Diplomacy recognizes extraordinary ambassadorial achievements in shaping international law for environmentally sustainable development. This year’s award recognizes that for the first time the objectives of the United Nations’ efforts toward socioeconomic development cover equally developed and developing countries while fully integrating the environment into development.
As all nations confront problems such as water shortage, severe natural disasters, loss of biodiversity and pollution, the goals frame integrated ways to tackle many problems at the same time. With acumen and patience, Ambassadors Kamau and Kőrösi achieved unprecedented agreement by nations on a new agenda for environmentally sustainable development. These goals are to be confirmed at a U.N. summit meeting to be held next month.
The Elizabeth Haub Award for Environmental Diplomacy is the premier recognition for extraordinary diplomatic achievements in shaping international environmental law and policy for sustainable development. The award was established for the 25th anniversary of the U.N. Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment as well as the fifth anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
Pace University and the International Council of Environmental Law established the award in memory of the distinguished German environmentalist Elizabeth Haub, a philanthropist devoted to the sound stewardship of nature and natural resources.
Born in Germany in 1889, Haub advocated for laws to conserve nature in the Federal Republic of Germany and internationally. Her family enterprises, including the Tengelmann Group, supported her belief that laws should conserve the Earth’s resources. In 1968, she initiated the establishment of a German foundation to support efforts toward the development and implementation of environmental law and policy.
Today, the Elizabeth Haub Foundation for Environmental Law and Policy continues to provide assistance for projects vital to the development of international environmental law and policy, including promoting formative agreements such as the African Convention on Environment and Development, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, the Convention on Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific and the Convention on Migratory Species.
Expanding on her legacy, Haub’s children and grandchildren have continued her philanthropic work. In 1973, Erivan and Helga Haub, her son and daughter-in-law, established the Elizabeth Haub Prize in Environmental Law, which Stockholm University now confers. Helga Haub also led the establishment of additional Elizabeth Haub Foundations in the United States and Canada.
Working in close-collaboration, the foundations have primarily supported the work of the International Council of Environmental Law and the Environmental Law Programme of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The combined resources of these organizations have continued to contribute to the development, negotiation and fulfillment of many important environmental agreements including the Antarctic Protocol, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations World Charter for Nature, and the Draft International Covenant on Environment and Development. Pace University bestowed honorary doctorates on Erivan and Helga Haub last year.
The Elizabeth Haub Award for Environmental Diplomacy is conferred on recommendation of an international jury. The jury invites nominations to be sent to The Secretary of the Jury, Elizabeth Haub Award for Environmental Diplomacy, Pace University School of Law, 78 N. Broadway, White Plains, N.Y. 10603.
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