Sustainable production and consumption matter immensely to the people I meet every day as head of the International Trade Centre, which works with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them boost growth and job creation by improving their competitiveness and connecting to international markets.

Governments around the world are looking for economic growth and job creation. African economies are no exception, with increasing recognition that growth has to be built on a more diversified economic structure in order to make a lasting contribution to development.

We often run the risk, when discussing women empowerment, to think that this is about women talking about women with other women, but this is not the point.

Governments everywhere have ministries dedicated to women's affairs. I know of only one with a Ministry for Women Empowerment: Indonesia. Charged with the 'realization of gender equality and justice' together with children's well-being, the ministry frames gender equality as a matter of justice.

This whole idea that we address environmental issues by not doing stuff just doesn't work.

I do comparative studies of climate evolution, and the interactions between planetary atmosphere and surfaces and their radiation environment, and try to understand the environmental factors that can affect a planet's habitability and how they change over time.

The dirty secret is that climate change is not really a partisan issue in Congress.

Address these environmental issues and you will address every issue known to man. And we keep dabbling in things that aren't really that important in the long term.