UN Secretary General urges G20 leaders to back Green Climate Fund

AMY MITCHELL-WHITTINGTON

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on G20 leaders to pledge to the Green Climate Fund to help reduce carbon emissions in developing nations.

The United Nations Green Climate Fund redistributes funds from developed nations to developing nations to help mitigate practices contributing to climate change.

“I urge G20 leaders to make ambitious pledges toward the capitalisation of the Green Climate Fund,” Mr Ban said during this morning’s G20 address.

The call came just hours before United States President Barack Obama formally announced a pledge of US$3 billion to the Fund at his University of Queensland speech.

Mr Ban also called on G20 leaders to continue the momentum of transition towards a lower carbon future.

“The transition towards a low carbon future is accelerating and I urge other leaders and major economies, especially those among the G20, to come forward with contributions that can sustain this momentum,” Mr Ban said.

While Mr Ban didn’t single out specific nations he did mention Australia’s responsibility for steering G20 discussions towards security and environmental issues.

“Australia has a pivotal global leadership role at a time when the world faces a serious security development and environmental challenges,” Mr Ban said.

When asked whether he believed climate change should be at the forefront of talks, Mr Ban said climate discussions would encourage G20 leaders to strengthen their commitments.

“It is the human influence that has been causing climate change and so then the answer is natural that as human beings we should take the necessary action to address our world,” Mr Ban said.