Governance challenges in the 21st century - Pascal Lamy lecture

10 February 2012

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© John Cairns 2012

WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy, to give Distinguished Public Lecture at Oxford Martin School on 8 March 2012.

As we face some of the biggest challenges of the 21st century, how equipped are global governance structures to coordinate and address issues such as climate change, trade tensions, food security and economic uncertainty? How do we resolve the inevitable strains that exist between global and national priorities in such debates?

To offer his perspectives on these critical tensions, Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, will deliver the Oxford Martin School Distinguished Public Lecture on 8 March at the University’s Examination Schools. He will be introduced by the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten of Barnes.

Lamy’s lecture, titledGlobal governance, local governments,” will consider today’s complex global challenges, drawing on his distinguished career as a French political adviser, businessman and former European Commissioner for Trade.

Lamy’s career spans a period in our history when globalization has created a more interconnected, interdependent and complex world than ever witnessed before. Whilst this openness and connectivity has brought enormous benefits, it has also increased our vulnerability and exposure to global shocks, such as the recent financial crisis. Balancing these dimensions brings significant challenges at the global, regional and local levels.

The Oxford Martin School’s Distinguished Public Lecture series brings eminent scholars and world thought leaders to Oxford to share their insights on some of the biggest global challenges of the 21st century. Among the previous speakers in the series are Dr Craig Venter, renowned for being one of the first scientists to sequence the human genome; Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Winner in Economics; Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal; and George Soros, one of history’s most successful financiers and prominent philanthropists.

Global governance, local governments will take place on Thursday 8 March, 5.00pm, at The Examination Schools, Oxford. Register your attendance here.

Pascal Lamy is the fifth Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. Appointed on 1 September 2005 for a four-year term he has worked in the public and private sector as a political advisor. Read more.

Publications:

  • Towards World Democracy (Policy Network) (La démocratie monde: pour une autre gouvernance globale (Seuil, 2004))
  • L'Europe en première ligne with Erik Orsenna (Seuil, 2002) (in French)
  • The Europe we Want with Jean Pisani-Ferry (Policy Network) (L'Europe de nos volontés (Plon, 2002))
  • Monde-Europe (Dunod, 1993) (in French)

Lord Patten of Barnes was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2003. In his distinguished career in the diplomatic service he has served as Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and as the last Governor of British Hong Kong. Read more.


Publications include:

  • What Next? Surviving the 21st Century(2008);
  • Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths About World Affairs(2005)
  • East and West(1998), about Asia and its relations with the rest of the world

Find out more about this event and register your attendance