Crown Prince Haakon hosts lunch for Nordic and South American ministers

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway is one of several royals who is attending the high-level week of the United Nations in New York. The Crown Prince arrived on Sunday; on Monday, the Crown Prince had a hectic programme regarding climate change, and this continued on Tuesday with meetings with, among others, the King of Jordan and actor Alec Baldwin.

On Wednesday His Royal Highness hosted a lunch at the Norwegian Consul’s residence in New York. Present were all the foreign ministers from the Nordic nations of Northern Europe and SICA countries. SICA is the Central American Integration System, an economic and political organisation of Central American states. The member states are Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

Norway uses this UN session to market its candidacy to the UN Security Council. In June 2018, it was His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon who announced Norway’s candidacy for a seat in the UN Security Council for the period of 2021-22. Crown Prince Haakon, therefore, used this opportunity to speak about the campaign.

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– Grunnen til at vi har tatt til gatene er vitenskapen. Vi må lytte til forskerne, samle oss bak forskningen og handle i tråd med den, sa Greta Thunberg under et arrangement i anledning FNs klimapanels nye spesialrapport om hav og is som ble lansert i dag. Kronprinsen var til stede under arrangementet. Der møtte han også Thelma Krug, en av forskerne fra FNs klimapanel. Foto: Det kongelige hoff/Stuart Ramson for UN Foundation. #kronprinshaakon #crownprincehaakon #kongehuset #IPCC

A post shared by Det Norske Kongehuset (@detnorskekongehus) on Sep 25, 2019 at 9:35am PDT

His Royal Highness said: “As the Foreign Minister mentioned, Norway is running for the UN Security Council 2021-2022. 20 years after we last served on the Council, Norway is now seeking the support of our SICA-partners to serve as an elected member. The candidature is founded on our strong commitment to the UN and to international peace and security. Through our extended experience in peace and reconciliation efforts, we have demonstrated that Norway promotes solutions based on genuine dialogue, willingness to listen and pragmatic diplomacy.”

Crown Prince Haakon also addressed the ongoing climate crisis. His Royal Highness said: “The SICA countries are important partners for Norway. We enjoy extensive cooperation and exchange. We also share a strong interest in listening to – and cooperating with – other regional groups in order to enhance our understanding of global issues and identify ways of addressing the major challenges of our time.”

Additionally, His Royal Highness participated in an event on the occasion of the UN Climate Panel’s new special report on sea and ice. There, he sat in the front row when climate activist Greta Thunberg gave a speech.