Forum des 100 : Marco Simeoni’s impassioned speech
The 15th edition of the Forum des 100 - a platform for debate and networking structured around an annual conference hosted by high-quality guest speakers - was held in Switzerland on Thursday the 9th of May. The forum seeks to encourage the economic vitality and creativity characteristic of the French-speaking region.
For a whole day, guests discuss key issues for the future.
Theme of the 2019 edition: “Ecological transition: time for action”
Marco Simeoni was one of the guest speakers. The Founder and President of the Race for Water Foundation gave an impassioned speech, befitting the urgency he has been denouncing since the creation of the Foundation in 2010 and the beginning of his fight against plastic pollution, an undeniable scourge of the 21st century.
Marco Simeoni: “Today, you have before you an angry man. In 2010, I created Race for Water to protect our oceans from plastic. At that time, I said that there was a need for immediate action. And 9 years later, it is no longer an urgency, but an unprecedented environmental catastrophe! One rubbish truck of plastic is dumped every minute into the oceans! And that is where it stays!”
Marco Simeoni’s full speech at the Forum des 100 (9th of May 2019 – duration: 19’40 ” – video in French)
* Launched in 2005 by L’Hebdo magazine, the Forum des 100 has been organised since 2017 by the daily newspaper Le Temps. The name of the conference is linked to the special issue devoted to the “100 personalities that make up French-speaking Switzerland”, a legion of “Elected Representatives” renewed each year that, through their action or their vision, contribute to the spirit of enterprise and innovation characteristic of French-speaking Switzerland.
Over fifteen years, it has become a key event in the Swiss-speaking world. Its success hinges on three pillars: its capacity to stimulate debate on the major issues affecting the future, the choice of its programme and its speakers, and the calibre of its participants.