Remarks to the Death of former French President Jacques Chirac by H.E. António Guterres (United Nations Secretary-General) at The High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development.
“France has lost a great statesman who was completely devoted to democracy and international cooperation and I would like to pay tribute to him,” said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today in New York, after learning of the passing of the former French President Jacques Chirac.
Jacques Chirac, who was the President of France from 1995 until 2007, died on Thursday (26 Sep) in Paris, at the age of 86.
“We worked together for six and a half years as colleagues at the Council of Europe and we developed a deep and profound friendship,” said Guterres. “I would like to present my condolences to his wife, to his family and to the government and the people of France and I would like to recall during this week when we have the climate at the center of our concerns, that Jacques Chirac was truly a pioneer in the fight against climate change, putting the climate at the center of the international agenda a long time ago.”
