Our global impact continues to grow
Advancing the work of the Foundation in London,
Paris and in Rome with our recent roadshow
Mr Steve Howard
Secretary General, The Global Foundation
On behalf of the Foundation, Board member Dr Mark Cutifani CBE and I recently conducted a working ‘roadshow’ in London, Paris and in Rome, engaging with and connecting 60 key figures from business, civil society, faiths and institutions.
The roadshow has led to an uplift in the embrace of the work of the Foundation in Europe and will underpin a major global roundtable meeting – our 6th and most ambitious edition of the Rome Roundtable – that we will convene in partnership with and at the Vatican in late January next year.
I would like to acknowledge Mark’s commitment of time and effort in making such a success of our roadshow. His lived experience of ‘enlightened business leadership’ was central to our discussions.
Read on…
London, 30 June
We convened a lunch for current and potential supporters in London on 30 June, kindly hosted by Mr Greg Mulley, Partner of member firm, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and attended by 25 guests, many of whom are already leaders in our global alliance, others who are now keen to get involved.
Mark spoke at the lunch about his concept of enlightened business leadership and the need to embrace a re-definition of ‘sustainability’, one that speaks to an integrated concept of economic, social and environmental sustainability, linked together, referencing his experience over decades in the global mining and energy industries.
Ms Karine Boissy-Rousseau from TotalEnergies related her experience, where sustainability has become everyone’s responsibility across the company, and this holistic view has helped drive company leadership in the energy transition, notably around action on methane gas reductions, which could now be extended to assist others in the energy sector transition.
Anglican Bishop David Urquhart continues to lead the initiative linking the mining industry and faith leaders, which was established with Mark’s co-leadership over a decade ago, to bridge understanding between miners and faiths. His Grace spoke of the need to refresh and widen these ‘courageous conversations’, to create more sustainable and positive outcomes for both miners and for communities affected by mining.
At the heart of the London lunch discussion was the word ‘trust’, of the need to continue to actively build trust and co-operation between business and communities, for sustainable societies and a sustainable planet.
The work of the Foundation, as an enabler, to bring together people of goodwill, to generate momentum and to help illuminate projects and processes which are win-win, was warmly acknowledged and encouraged.
Paris, 2 July
Hosted by Mr Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, the Chairman of the prestigious Collège des Bernadins in the heart of Paris, the Foundation’s informal roundtable discussion brought together 14 guests, from business, institutions, civil society and faiths, most of whom are already active in our global alliance.
The discussion addressed our agenda of co-operation across borders and new dimensions of work being undertaken by those present.
For example, the OECD is playing a leading role in mobilising specific and measurable global action on climate change, Ms Fabrizia Lapecorella, Deputy Secretary General, told us that it is now quite advanced with a project to account for the carbon emissions of its 38 member nations, plus a further 23 nations that have agreed to take part.
Building bridges between faiths and finance, the Collège des Bernadins is currently conducting pilot programs to teach locally-based Catholic investors, initially in Paris and eventually, globally, to better understand investment principles and to apply discernment in investing in those enterprises which are demonstrating commitment to improving the state of the world.
Interestingly, with regard to the global energy transition, the challenges presently faced by Asia was highlighted, as was the complementary strategy being undertaken by the Foundation, linking Australia, Asia and also Oceania.
While in Paris, I called on the Australian Ambassador to France, HE Ms Lynette Wood, for a comprehensive exchange of views about the positive state of Australia-France relations and active French interests in the Pacific, which is important to our planned Australia-Asia and Oceania energy transition program.
Rome, 7-10 July
Mark and I conducted a series of one-on-one meetings with significant figures in Italian society and at the Bank of Italy, with several Vatican officials and leaders of affiliated organisations, also with the Brazilian Ambassador to the Vatican.
Professor Enrico Giovannini, a long-standing global talent in our global alliance and former minister in the Government of Italy, now leads a civil society organisation that has mobilised and institutionalised the modern principles of sustainability, right across Italy, including in laws passed in Parliament. Prof Giovannini will be integrally involved with our plans to meet in Rome.
Sister Roxanne Schares is the Executive Secretary of the peak body of all religious sisters worldwide, having spent decades working with communities in Africa. Sister Roxanne was interested in our work and suggested connections to a number of faith-based investment organisations.
Father Roberto Jaramillo Bernal SJ leads the Social Justice and Ecology section for Jesuit headquarters in Rome and has a deeply grounded experience in Latin America. We had a useful discussion about the leadership role that enlightened business can and should play, including in the mining industry.
Dr Claudio Betti is another long-standing ally, who plays a leading role in the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic lay organisation with extensive and impressive global reach. Dr Betti is aso Director of the Australian Catholic University campus in Rome.
Professor Riccardo Pozzo, a close ally and leading philosopher in Italy, also a member of the Vatican Academy of Social Sciences, continues to build bridges of East-West understanding, particularly with his considerable work in and with China and globally.
Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy, Dr Paolo Angelini, leads the central bank’s significant attention to the matter of sustainability and continues the long-standing connection between the Foundation and the Bank, as we enjoy with other central banks worldwide.
The Brazilian Ambassador to the Holy See, Ambassador Everton Vieira Vargas, continues his engagement with the Foundation, having advocated at our 2024 Rome Roundtable in favour of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, an initiative of the Brazilian Government that is now bearing fruit, also central to our Carajás Roundtable, hosted by Key Partner, Vale, in August last year.
The Vatican
A centrepiece of our visit to Rome and the overall roadshow was a meeting with His Eminence, Cardinal Fabio Baggio, just announced as Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development at the Vatican and also Director of the Borgo Laudato Si’ centre, based in the Vatican gardens at Castel Gandolfo, historically the Pope’s summer retreat in the hills outside of Rome. See further below for our plans to work with Cardinal Baggio for our next global roundtable meeting, in a beautiful setting at the Vatican.
We were pleased to meet with old friends at the Vatican, including Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, now officially retired, but still active in the the Vatican’s leadership on the ethical AI agenda, as per Pope Leo’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. Archbishop Paglia asked for our support in further actioning the matter, alongside the leading Silicon Valley tech. industry leaders he has been working with.
Also, we hosted a dinner with Mr Alistair Dutton, who heads the global Catholic charity network, Caritas Internationalis. Al is an active member of our global alliance and participated in our Paris and Carajás Roundtable meetings last year, bringing to bear the voices of faiths in local communities, worldwide.
We also met with Mr Francois Pauly, the recently appointed President of the Vatican Bank, an institution with which we have engaged since 2014, when we were able to introduce Mme Christine Lagarde, then managing director of the IMF, to Pope Francis and the key financial officials of the Vatican.
A Rome Roundtable at Borgo Laudato Si’
As a consequence of our meeting with Cardinal Baggio, we agreed in principle that we will co-convene our next global Rome Roundtable meeting in late January (tentative dates 24-26 Jan, tbc) at the Borgo Laudato Si’ centre, at Castel Gandolfo, the summer papal retreat of the Pope, in the hills near Rome. This will be the first occasion that the Foundation has been invited to partner with the Vatican in convening and conducting such a major roundtable discussion.
The agenda for the 2027 Rome Roundtable will be guided by our Leadership Group and will build on the work of our Global Alliance. We intend to help strengthen global governance and co-operation, certainly in those areas where our business supporters are able demonstrate positive leadership and partnership in society. From the Vatican perspective, humanity and the care of our planet will be central to the discussions.
In many ways, the 2027 Rome Roundtable is intended to link together, under one roof, the overall work of the Foundation through our global alliance. Our intention is to enjoy frank and helpful dialogue with Vatican interlocutors and to help further mobilise a number of concrete programs, some such as the energy transition in Australia, Asia and Oceania that is already underway; and to refresh and elevate other programs, such as the mining and faith initiative, that is implemented by others, under our umbrella.
In the spirit of partnership between business, civil society and institutions, that is faith-enabled, it is our hope that the Rome Roundtable will be able to incorporate an audience with Pope Leo, continuing our long-standing engagement with the Vatican, including the audiences we were privileged to have with the late Pope Francis on four previous occasions.
Join the conversation
Contact the Global Foundation’s Chief of Staff, Ms Natalia Cikorska, at natalia.cikorska@globalfoundation.earth