By Amy Lieberman
25 June 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: In “view of their own historical responsibility,” industrialized nations must help developing countries access the necessary resources to tackle climate change, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told correspondents today.
Ban spoke alongside New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as the CEOs from The Climate Group and the Carbon Disclosure Project, to highlight the UN’s “unprecedented” Climate Change Summit this fall.
“In terms of providing technology and financing support, industrialized countries should focus their attention and support developing countries, most vulnerable countries, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Land-Locked Countries, and Small Island Developing Countries,” Ban said in an interview with MediaGlobal.
“I have been working very hard to mobilize political, financial, and technological support for these developing countries, and that will be one of the very important elements to make this negotiation a success,” Ban said.
Ban added that the UN Summit, which will take place on 22 September, will ideally encourage “political momentum needed to seal the deal…on a fair, effective, and scientifically ambitious new climate framework,” at the climate change conference scheduled to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark this December.
The UN Summit will also coincide with New York City’s “Climate Week NYC,” from 21-25 September.
“We are here for one reason,” Ban said. “To push for urgent action on climate change from world leaders, from civic leaders, and from everyone, every citizen of the world, including New York City.”Ban continued, “According to the world’s leading scientists, we have less than ten years to halt the rise in greenhouse emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet. Now is the time for action.”
Ban called on “all leaders” to attend the UN Climate Change Summit, whether they “are from countries with the highest emissions or from those suffering most acutely from the effects.”
As of 2005, the United States accounted for 18.4 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, or 23.5 CO2 tons per citizen, according to the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank. China was found responsible for 19.2 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, with 5.5 CO2 tons per person, while the European Union contributed 13.37 percent, or 10.3 CO2 tons per person, to the global greenhouse gas total.
However, despite their relatively low rate of emissions, LDCs will be most susceptible to climate changes’ potentially devastating effects. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a climate disaster will hit one out of 14 people in an LDC, compared to one out of 1,500 for the heavily industrialized member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group, stressed the need for international cooperation with a collaborative focus on LDCs at the September Summit, informing MediaGlobal that “all nations can participate here in Climate Week in New York City.”
“We would love for them [leaders of LDCs] to be in town,” for the September Summit, Howard continued.
The Climate Group, an international organization that unites governments and businesses to combat climate change, also addressed the significant role global leaders, such as the United States, European Union, China, India, Japan, and Russia, will play in combating global warming, both at the Copenhagen conference and beyond.
Bloomberg echoed the notion of the United States, and New York City in particular, setting a green example for other nations. The 19 million people living in New York have a deeper carbon footprint than the 766 million people living in 49 of the world’s LDCs, according to the UNDP.
The mayor said he personally has tried to lessen his carbon footprint by painting his house’s roof white and installing energy-efficient light bulbs. New York City’s five-day climate event will highlight comparable simple tactics to decrease energy consumption on an everyday basis.
“I think America should be a leader in the world and we don’t have to wait and see what other nations are doing,” Bloomberg said. “We are going to do what is right for the planet and right for the people.”
Bloomberg also linked the global economic crisis to environmental awareness and progress.
“Going green is the best formula for economic growth both in the short and the long term,” he said.
