I am glad to report that the Rockefeller Foundation has invited us back to the Bellagio Center in Italy this September to reconvene the next international meeting about the Health and Pollution Fund (HPF) – the planned $500 million public health fund to support global pollution cleanup.
The Bellagio Center has served as a launching pad for many groundbreaking international efforts, just as it did three years ago with the HPF. Then, the HPF was just an idea. Today, it is well on its way to becoming a reality.
Our 2007 meeting produced the Bellagio Principles, which spelled out the scope of the global pollution problem and the steps that must be taken by the international community.
Blacksmith will be cosponsoring the September meeting with the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Attendees will include senior representatives from a host of countries, the international development community, and leading researchers and scientist from the public health and pollution remediation fields. We will discuss and exchange ideas about the cleanup of highly polluted sites in the developing world and push forward the HPF effort.
This September, I feel, will mark a milestone in the creation of the HPF. When people come together, good things happen.
