President Michael D. Higgins releases statement following 2023 Arraiolos Group meeting

President Michael D. Higgins issued a statement on 6 October following the 2023 meeting of the Arraiolos Group of non-executive EU Presidents.

The president said that the meeting took place at a time of “intersecting crises”, mentioning climate change, food security, global poverty and migration as “inextricably linked” issues that have been “greatly exacerbated by conflicts and war.”

“If we are to achieve the more equal, more sustainable world we all wish to achieve, it is not sufficient for us to seek short-term narrow, often exclusionary, actions,” said President Higgins.

“Rather, we must draw on the scholarship available to us and work together to deliver the structural changes which are required to break this continuous cycle of intersecting crises.”

Statement by President Higgins following the 2023 meeting of the Arraiolos Group of non-executive EU Presidents https://t.co/fqr8VB7kjU pic.twitter.com/dg2VrbLX0M

— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) October 6, 2023

He called on heads of state to respond to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ concerns for an urgent need for action, following the failure of some of the world’s most powerful countries failing to meet their climate commitments.

The President welcomed the discussions which took place at the Arraiolos meeting, and called for solidarity with “the most vulnerable people both in Europe, and on our neighbouring continents to which we owe so much – those impacted by war, by hunger, by poverty, and by the destruction of their environment and ways of life.”

“To achieve this, we must do more to strengthen European cooperation with other regional actors, including those from Africa, South America and Asia at UN level,” said the President

Later this month President Higgins will travel to Rome where he will meet Pope Francis, who "has reflected so many of the concerns which we have discussed and highlighted once more the urgency of taking real and meaningful action."

The President will also speak on food security in a number of addresses to the World Food Forum.