Madrid, September 21, 2006.– The Club of Madrid’s V Annual Conference will be celebrated October 20-21 in the Spanish Senate and will focus on the role that democratic leadership can play in meeting the challenges posed by energy security, efficiency, governance and access. Under the theme The Challenges of Energy and Democratic Leadership, participants in this annual meeting will analyze how democratic political leadership can and should address the global energy crisis in the short-term and build a new paradigm for sustainable energy security in the future.

The Annual Conference will start the day after the Club of Madrid General Assembly, the organization’s main governing body. The conference will bring together the political expertise and experience of its Members, all of whom have dealt with the challenge of energy policy as leaders, with technical and policy know-how of some of the world’s leading energy thinkers, experts, policy and opinion shapers.

There is a growing need for transparent, independent and forward-looking discussion of the energy challenges the world faces. Thus, focusing on the links between decision making in the field of Energy and Democratic Leadership, the Conference will study the impact the politics of energy may have on economic, political and environmental sustainability.

Particularly from a democratic perspective, working in small, high-level groups, the CoM will bring this political perspective to the consideration of the topic and to the views and recommendations outlined by energy experts. Participants will analyze the knowledge provided by experts and participants on energy, geopolitics and democracy with a view to formulating practical policy recommendations for governments, international organizations, energy-related industry and consumers.
 
This year’s General Assembly and Annual Conference will be partially funded by the Autonomous Community of Madrid, who is providing a generous contribution for the organization of the gathering.

Background

Over the past three years, the CoM has successfully convened the world’s leading experts and political leaders to address different global issues, such as the impact of IMF policies on democratic governance or democratic responses to terrorism. The independence and global make-up of the CoM’s membership, together with the technical expertise of its network of scholars and practitioners, brings top-level, politically experienced thinking to the consideration of such critical issues.

In 2005 its General Assembly and Annual Conference was celebrated in Prague, under the title “Democracy in the Post Communist World: Unfinished Business. What has been learned and how can it be applied?” Twenty-five former Heads of State and Government, together with more than 30 scholars and expert practitioners, and more than 120 guests from leading national and international institutions, met in Prague’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the lessons learnt from the transitions in post communist countries 16 years after the historical regime changes in Europe and Central Asia.

Participants

Program

Press:

Inaugural and Closing plenary sessions of this year’s will be open to the press and accredited journalists are welcome. For security reasons all journalists should be accredited in advance and those interested are asked to please send an e-mail to Bárbara González del Valle (bgonzalez@clubmadrid.org) with the following information: name of the journalist, passport or ID number, birth date, media, address, phone contact and e-mail.

Requests for interviews

Please indicate the name of the participants you would like to interview from the preliminary list below, and inform our press contact as soon as possible. Bear in mind that the schedule of many guests will be tight and an early indication of interest will facilitate the process, in spite of which their time for the media is limited and we cannot guarantee meeting all requests.

Press contact:
Bárbara González del Valle
bgonzalez@clubmadrid.org
Tel: 34 911 548 230