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GCI BOARD MEETING 17th September 2014 Zurich, Switzerland
GCI BOARD MEETING
17th September 2014
Zurich, Switzerland
GCI Board meeting
Wednesday 17th September 2014
Handout - Table of contents
BOARD MEETING STATUTORY MATTERS:
1. Board meeting Agenda 2014
2. Board meeting Minutes (September 2013)
3. General Assembly Minutes (September 2013)
4. Council meeting Minutes (June 2014) FINANCE:
1. 2013 Annual Financial Statements & Auditors Report
2. 2014 (July) Year to date Actual vs. Budget
3. 2015 USD Budget Proposal
4. 2015 CHF Budget Proposal
5. GCNO's consolidated results 2005 to 2013 (profit & losses)
6. Consolidation schedules & contributions table (2005 to 2013) GCI NETWORK DEVELOPMENT:
1. Network Development
2. Communication Plan, Social media communication overview
3. GCI Network Contact list
OTHER MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. 2015 General Assembly, Travel Fund, GG USA Contributions, Governance &
Strategy Review, ESS Programme Future Directions - Memo
PROGRAMME UPDATE
1. GCI Programme Update
2. GCNOs Performance - KPI’s Long Term Targets
BOARD MEETING STATUTORY MATTERS
• 2014 Board Meeting Agenda
• Board meeting Minutes (September 2013)
• General Assembly Minutes (September 2013)
• Council meeting Minutes (June 2014)
GCI Board meeting Agenda
Date: Wednesday 17th September 2014
Venue: Plaza Hotel, Central 1, 8001 Zurich (Tel. +41 22 789 16 62, +41 43 499 13 10)
Green Cross International Tel. +41-22-789-16-62 9-11, rue de Varembé Fax +41-22-789-16-95 1202 Geneva E-mail: [email protected] Switzerland Web: greencrossinternational.net
Members: Jan Kulczyk, Chairman of the Board, GCI Mikhail Gorbachev, Founding President, GCI Marisa Arienza, President, GC Argentina
Sergei Baranovskiy, President, GC Russia Martin Bäumle, Chairman, GC Switzerland Robert S. Bucklin, Chairman, GG USA
Shoo Iwasaki, President, GC Japan Mathieu Koffi Mahika, President, GC Ivory Coast Alexander Likhotal, President, GCI
Sander Mallien, Treasurer, GCI Mohan Munasinghe, Board Member, GCI Elio Pacilio, President, GC Italy
Mario Soares, Board Member, GCI Guest: Tom Kawamoto, CEO, GC Japan GCI staff: Adam Koniuszewski, COO, GCI Pierre Muller, Vice-President, GCI Cynthia Capitaine, Head of Administration, GCI Karolina Skrybant, Special Advisor to the Chairman, GCI Wednesday 17th September 2014 10.00 - 10.30 Welcome address 10.30 - 11.00 Board Meeting Statutory Matters 11.00 - 12.00 Report of the Treasurer - GCI 2013 Financial Statements and Auditors
report, 2014 Budget Implementation & GCNO Contributions, 2015 Budget for Approval
12.00 - 12.30 Network Development 12.30 - 13.00 Programme Update 13.00 - 14.30 Lunch 14.30 - 15.30 Discussion on Strategy and Challenges 15.30 - 16.00 General Assembly 2015 16.00 - 16.15 Coffee break 16.15 - 16.45 Other points for discussion 16.45 - 17.00 Closing remarks
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GCI COUNCIL MEETING Thursday 12th & Friday 13th June 2014
GCI HQ, CCV: 9-11 Rue de Varembé -1202 Geneva
Attendees list, Agenda & Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________ COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Alexander Likhotal President, GCI Pierre Muller Vice-President, GCI Adam Koniuszewski Chief Operating Officer, GCI Marisa Arienza President, GC Argentina Sergey Baranovskiy President, GC Russia Nathalie Gysi CEO, GC Switzerland Mathieu Koffi Mahika President, GC Ivory Coast Elio Pacilio President, GC Italy Maria Vitagliano Programme Director SOCMED Marie-Laure Vercambre Programme Director Water, GCI Paul Walker Programme Director Environmental Security and Sustainability, GCI MODERATOR: Adam Koniuszewski Chief Operating Officer, GCI GCI STAFF:
Carole Apotheloz Communication Assistant Intern, GCI Gaëlle Crausaz Communication & Administration Assistant Intern, GCI
Cynthia Capitaine Head of Administration, GCI Massimo Gonnella Head of Communications, GCI Karolina Skrybant Special Advisor to GCI Chairman
GUESTS: Sergey Batsanov GCI Senior Advisor Simone Frattini Project Manager Freddas-Desk Africa, GC Italy Nicolas Imbert Executive Director, GC France & Territories Donata Kaluzna Chief Operating Officer, GC Poland Vladimir Sakharov Programme Director Environmental Emergency Preparedness, GCI Elena Maria Seina Activity Coordinator, GC Italy Jarek Sroka Board member, GC Poland NOT ATTENDING, EXCUSED:
Tom Kawamoto CEO, GC Japan Stephan Robinson Chemical Pollution, GC Switzerland Mary Luevano Interim Executive Director, GG USA Xavier Guijarro Programme Director Environmental Education, GCI
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AGENDA
Thursday, 12th June 2014: 09:00- 10:00 WELCOME. Coffee & Croissant 10:00- 11:00 OPENING. TARGET AND AGENDA COUNCIL MEETING Consolidation, GCNOs Reporting/Contributions, GCI Finances 11:15- Gathering/pick-up by a bus to our lunch destination
12:15- 15:30 Lunch organized by the Geneva Authorities to honour GCI: Vignes des Nations-Signal de Bernex 15:30- 16:15 Return to GCI Offices 16:15- 18:00 Updates and Announcements Friday, 13th June 2014: 09:00- 10:00 Coffee & Croissant 10:00- 10:30 Programme Discussion – Water for Life and Peace 10:30- 10:45 Coffee Break 10:45- 11:15 Programme Discussion – Environmental Security and Sustainability
11:15- 11:45 Programme Discussion – SOCMED 11:45- 12:15 Programme Discussion – Environmental Education, Smart Energy & CCTF 12:15- 13:15 Lunch at: L’Ariana, Café – Brasserie – 83 rue de Montbrillant, 1202 GE 13:15- 14:30 Network Development Update 14:30- 15:15 Communication’s Update 15:15- 15:45 Coffee Break 15:45- 16:15 Discussion and Closing remarks 16:15- 17:45 OPEN FOR MEETINGS * 17:45- 18:45 FREE TIME 19:00 Dinner at: Petrus Restaurant - Rue de la Corraterie 21, 1204 Genève Phone: 022 310 65 00 * If you wish to use GCI facilities (conference room), kindly coordinate with admin. in order to allocate rooms accordingly. ____________________________________________________________________________ Programme Discussions - Water: Marie-Laure Vercambre - SOCMED: Maria Vitagliano - Value Change: Adam Koniuszewski on behalf of X. Guijarro - Energy & CCTF: Adam Koniuszewski - Environmental Security and Sustainability: Paul Walker
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MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING Thursday 12 and Friday 13 June 2014
GCI Headquarters, 9-11 de Varembé, 1202, Geneva Council Meeting, Day 1 - Thursday, June 12 Alexander Likhotal (AL) welcomed the Council members and excused Xavier Guijarro, Tom Kawamoto and Mary Luevano. Jarek Sroka, member of the Board of GC Poland is present as a guest observer. Elena Seina and Simone Frattini from Green Cross Italy are also present to provide an overview of the Freddas project (the Water project in Senegal). AL welcomes Massimo Gonnella as our new head of communication. • AL provided an explanation for the celebrations to which the Council members are invited: “Vignes des
Nations” hosted by the Cantonal authorities to honor Green Cross International. Each year, the Cantonal authorities dedicate their yearly wine harvest to an International Organization; (The World Trade Organization was last year’s recipients and previous years included: The United Nations, The World Meteorological, IPCC and many other International Organizations). GCI is the first NGO to receive this dedication.
Latest Developments and Announcements
• AL announced that Vladimir Sakharov (VS) decided to retire from full time employment but makes himself
available to remain a consultant and to pursue his involvement with the Green Star Awards. The Council thanked VS for his contribution to the development of GC activities.
• AL announced a new cooperation between the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and GCI for which the signing of an MOU will take place next week. AK described that we will cooperate on several fronts both in terms of advocacy and practical projects with a focus on Water and Sanitation, Environmental Education, Environmental Emergencies and Climate Change.
• AL announced a book project to which Green Cross is contributing on the new paradigms of development with organizations that include the Club of Madrid, the Club of Rome, the Alexandria Library and a consortium of Universities with prestigious institutions like MIT, Harvard and Stanford.
• AL also noted that GCI has recently hosted several interesting meetings and a conference organized with Pugwash in Geneva related to the Syria events and the Chemical weapons agenda. The first event took place in the presence of US and Russian observers.
AL gave the floor to AK.
Programme Developments
• AK thanked the Programme Directors for their reports and KPIs and congratulated them for reviewing their
long-term targets. • The UN Water Convention will enter into force in August 2014 following the 35th ratification by Vietnam
representing an important milestone for the Water Programme. President Gorbachev will publish an article shortly. AL invited the Council to brainstorm on how to add value to the implementation process. With the recognition of the Right to Water & Sanitation and the imminent entry into force of the UNWC, it is time to think of the future Programme direction, strategy and targets.
• AK congratulated Paul Walker (PW) and the ESS Programme for having received the “Right livelihood award” in late 2013 for twenty years of work to advance the Chemical Weapons agenda and invited PW to articulate the future direction of the ESS Programme activities.
• AK noted that Programme revenues grew by $536,000 to $13.3 million versus 2012. Slightly below the 2013 budget but that the savings on the well received “2013 Geneva Earth Dialogues” that were organized for $115,000 (budgeted at $1.5 million) explain the shortfall.
• It is worth noting that the 20th Anniversary celebrations resulted in significant exposure and achieved the expected outcomes at a fraction of the cost. The anniversary helped develop strong relations with the authorities at all levels - this will be useful for the development of future activities and events in Geneva. I would change this sentence.
• GG USA 2013 energy activities have surpassed expectations by a million dollars, projections for future have not yet been provided.
• We continue to target total Programme revenues exceeding $16 million by 2018 before including GG USA figures ($20 million once the GG USA figures are obtained).
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GCI Finances
• Actual vs. Budget April 2014 year to date is in line with the projections despite the late collection of
contributions. The 2015 budget has been prepared on the same basis with Programme support that is unchanged – always subject to the collection of contributions.
• Contributions collection: aside from small contributions of $500, we continue to suffer from missing contribution from GG USA ($130,000) and GC Australia. GC Australia requested financial support from GCI because of a serious liquidity problem. GCI requested a formal letter to the Board accompanied with the relevant support (financial statements, etc.). We are waiting for a response.
• The finances of GC France & Territories are improving and the organization has a visibility of 5/6 months for the first time since its re-launch and is expected to finish the year on a positive note. GC Italy: is slowly repaying its loan to GCI, we are waiting to receive an update to the loan agreement as well as the latest financial statements of GC Italy for our auditors to be able to complete their audit of the GCI financial statements.
• AK noted that several organizations operate in an extremely difficult context – namely GC Russia, GC Ukraine, GC Belarus and also GC Argentina.
Network Developments
• AK noted that GG USA is going through a leadership change following the departure of Matt Petersen in
August 2013. Deputy-President Richard Wegman left the organization and was replaced by Mary Luevano until a new President is recruited. Paul Walker announced that Global Green has a new President, Les MacCabe, who will start on July 1st. AL added that Bob Bucklin would be sending a memo to GCI on the GG USA financial situation and on how the contributions backlog situation will be resolved.
• AK mentioned that talks are ongoing concerning PrepComs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Chile.
• Marisa Arienza stated that there is a possibility to develop a project in Uruguay (in collaboration with the government project on iron mining), GC could help with a feasibility study that could lead to the creation of a PrepCom in the country.
Part two of the session begins at 16h30.
Elektrownia Północ Campaign
http://350.org/8000-people-urge-chairman-of-green-cross-to-quit-funding-environmental-wreckage/ • 350.org has been campaigning and organizing an online petition calling for Dr Jan Kulczyk (JK) to stop
investing in Europe’s biggest power plant project (in Poland) that would emit 10 million tons of CO2 annually and lock Europe into polluting infrastructure for many decades. Backers of the campaign include WWF Poland, Greenpeace Poland and other local environmental organizations and they cite that such investments are in conflict with the role of GCI Chairman (and with his declarations on the need for the business community to be environmentally responsible).
• Several GC organizations (including GG USA and GC Sweden) as well as the GCI Headquarters have been contacted by mail and through social media about this campaign and expressed concerns about the situation. AL sent a letter to JK copying GCI Board members on January 27, 2014 about this matter. Dr JK's answer received on February 12, 2014, was also circulated to the Board members. However, the recent Polish regulator's decision has provoked the new wave of the criticism. In the United States there are concerns about repercussions for fundraising and with the donor community. We were told that a long-standing Board member of GG USA decided to resign in order not to be associated with these developments.
• For these reasons, the Council discussed the subject. • Jarek Sroka (JS), oficially representing Dr Jan Kulczyk (Dr JK), expressed: “his gratitude to Council
Members for their understanding hoping that this question causes no damage and is not harmful to GCI and GCNOs and for supporting Dr JK. He emphasized that the power plant Elektrownia Północ (Power Plant North) appears for the moment as a project under consideration and merely exists "on paper". He stressed that Dr JK is also actively involved in a number of investments in renewable energy sector in Poland and all over the world. He is a precursor (pioneer) of the idea of developing energy sector in a rational and safe way, which means promoting renewable energy and at the same time securing energy provision, taking advantage of national coal. JS pointed out how important is chairing GCI for Dr JK and how much he is committed promoting proecological attitudes and activities by the international business community, administration and civil society. He answered Paul Walker stating that this subject of
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Elektrownia Północ does not exist in Poland and no letter from any organization on this question was received by Kulczyk Holding (KH) or GCPL.”
• Following an open, sincere and balanced discussion and taking into account Dr Kulczyk’s representative Jarek Sroka's clarification that at this time the plant only exists on paper, it was suggested that it would be helpful if the GCI Chairman could provide a public statement to clarify the situation and dispel any misconceptions before the September meeting of the Board.
The day’s meetings ended at 17h30. Council Meeting, Day 2 - Friday, June 13th
Simone Frattini and Elena Seina provided an update on the Freddas project that was launched in 2012 in the north of Senegal and is expected to run until 2015, for sustainable agriculture solar powered drop irrigation on 60 hectares of abandoned land along the Senegal river with the aim to provide sustainable livelihoods to women, improve food security and eradicate extreme poverty. • MLV provided an update on the UNWC (see above) • MLV noted that additional resources will need to be invested in the fulfillment of the RTW&S at national
level. • MLV noted the AFL campaign continues, a project in Sri Lanka with involvement of GC Japan is underway,
we aim for a new project with Alstom funding in China and maybe India, for a continuation of activities in Ukraine with support from UNDP and the French Artois Picardie Water Agency.
• We are also preparing the next World Water Forum in South Korea (2015) • Later this year we will prepare a China-Europe Workshop on Water in Geneva
Paul Walker (PW) provided an update on the Right Livelihood Award and how it provide visibility for the programme and activities and potentially opened the door for funding – possibly for activities in the nuclear security area • PW gave an update on the Syria situation and on the imminent completion of the remaining Syrian CW out
of the country. • Funding continues to be a challenge. Five funding proposals are in preparation. A status update is
expected as soon as possible. • AL asked PW to reflect on the future perspectives for the Programme and to prepare a memo to the Board
on how to move forward and beyond CW. • PW excused the absence of Stephan Robinson and provided an update on the chemical pollution activities.
It was noted that this aspect of the ESS Programme is developing well and that funds may be available for further expansions in the coming years.
SOCMED: Maria Vitagliano (MV)
• MV showed a short movie about the Fukushima trip • MV called for the urgent need to develop new projects and to diversify the funding base. • Studies on Chernobyl, database can be used in order to compare figures in Fukushima. • Cooperation with large international networks and local authorities is sought. • A new Deputy Director of the Programme will be presented soon.
AK commended the Senegal project’s solar energy related activities to displace diesel generators and welcomed the opportunity to deploy such solutions on a regional scale. • Sergey Baranovskiy provided an update on the Russian Biogas project and deplored the lack of financing
to continue and expand the project. • AK noted that GCI is in discussions to continue the CCTF activities ahead of COP Paris in 2015 – namely
with the possibility to cooperate with ICLEI (local authorities for sustainability) and with the Secretariat of the Global Cities Covenant on Climate.
• Nicolas Imbert reminded the Council that the 2015 Climate Conference in Paris may provide good opportunities for engagement and visibility for Green Cross.
Water: Marie-Laure Vercambre
ESS: Paul Walker
Smart Energy and CCTF: Adam Koniuszewski (AK)
