Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer’s Visit in the U.S.

Dr. Alfred Gusenbauer’s first visit to the U.S. (September 24 - 28) as Austrian Federal Chancellor and as head of the delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York was marked by international efforts directed toward protection of the environment.
Together with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, he headed one of four working groups on mitigating the effects of climate change. “We have to achieve an international, global mechanism and this can be done only under the lead of the United Nations. Due to our exemplary position in the field of future-oriented energy resources, Austria qualified to co-chair this important climate summit,” stated the Federal Chancellor, placing great hopes on this item on the agenda of the UN General Assembly. A successor agreement has to be found for the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, to ensure the success of the next international climate conference in Bali in December. In New York the Federal Chancellor met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and with the leaders of Brazil, the Czech Republic, Serbia, South Africa and Turkey. He also held separate meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and Senator Hillary Clinton. At the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, Dr.  Gusenbauer met with British-Indian author Salman Rushdie. Talks were also held with financial investor George Soros and Economic Nobel Prize Winner Joseph E. Stiglitz.

While in Boston, he spoke to faculty and students of Harvard University’s Law School on the future perspectives of educational cooperation, science and research. In Philadelphia, he held a lecture at the World Affairs Council on “Europe, the Transatlantic Relationship and Climate.”