“I’m almost 50 – half the world’s population didn’t even exist when I was born.”
Chris Luebkeman, Director for Global Foresight and Innovation, Ove Arup, UK

“We are not running out of energy resources. We are not running out of capital. But we are running out of time.”
Fatih Birol, Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis, Division, International Energy Agency, Turkey, on climate change.

“Women are not worse than men at office politics, we just don’t want to play it. We’re more direct. We find the whole political game offensive.”
Deborah Hopkins, senior advisor and managing director at financial giant Citi.

“The right of interference is today not only legal but desired, indeed almost imperative.”
Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the moral imperative in foreign policy.

“We would be lying to ourselves if we think that fixing climate change will be for free.”
Fatih Birol, Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis, Division, International Energy Agency.

“The Women’s Forum for Economy and Society should be renamed the ‘Women’s Forum for Economy, Society and the Environment’.”
Sheri Xiaoyi Liao, President, Global Village of Beijing, China

“Men should never take the gentleness of a woman for weakness. Often, the gentler they look, the stronger they are.”
Runa Khan, Executive Director of the Bangladeshi humanitarian NGO “Friendship”

“Darfur met our expectation of horror. But what we hadn’t thought about before we went is that it might also meet an expectation of joy. The spirit of the women of Darfur is amazing - I don’t have words to describe how magnificent it was.”
Caryl Stern, President, UNICEF, USA

Quotes gathered by the Women’s Forum writers team on the first day of the conference, Thursday October 11:

“It takes years to build up trust. It takes seconds to break it.”
Maria Livanos Cattaui, Vice-Chairman, International Crisis Group

“Men feel like they are fully confident to make a decision when they have 25 percent of the information. Women only feel confident when they have 75 percent.”
Laura Liswood, Senior Advisor, Goldman Sachs

“You really can’t trust very much in Nigeria. You can’t even trust that when you turn on the light switch you will get any light.”
Ayo Obe, Chair, Steering Committee, World Movement for Democracy
“I personally don’t like victimized feminists who say when you criticise them, ‘It’s just because I’m a woman’.”
Elisabeth Guigou, former French Minister of Justice

“Women are different from men, and we have our own way of looking at the world, but it doesn’t mean we’re better, genetically or in any other way.”
Maria Angeles Amador, former Spanish Minister of Health

“I don’t believe there is a glass ceiling. There’s just a very thick layer of men.”
Laura Liswood, Senior Advisor, Goldman Sachs

“The planet will do fine – it’s us that’s in dire peril.”
Maria Livanos Cattaui, Vice-Chairman, International Crisis Group