World Bank Group President to Attend Copenhagen Climate Conference December 15-17

Published: 16 December 2009 y., Wednesday

Kopenhagoje vykstant JT klimato konferencijai visame mieste galima išvysti šiam projektui sukurtų didžiulių gaublių.
With developing countries bearing the brunt of climate change, World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick  will travel to Copenhagen to attend the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

There cannot be an effective global response to climate change without the involvement of developing countries,”  said Zoellick.  “ At the same time, many developing countries will be hit first and hardest by climate change.   I look forward to listening to stakeholders in Copenhagen and to discussing how the Bank Group can best leverage resources and harness technology to help developing countries and the world’s poor to weather climate change and to develop low carbon growth strategies.”

The Bank Group has joined other multilateral and bilateral partners in uniting to advance the climate change agenda under the leadership of the U.N., including a recent call by Zoellick, along with other heads of multilateral development banks ,  for a comprehensive agreement to emerge in Copenhagen.

While in Copenhagen, Zoellick  will meet with government leaders, national legislators, and others attending the conference to share experiences and lessons learned on effective climate action.  He will also take part in an event to explore how the international community can provide greater support to REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Land Degradation) initiatives, and attend a seminar of world mayors and other urban leaders.

The Bank Group supports the UNFCCC process even though it does not participate in the negotiations.  The Bank Group has worked closely on global climate change with donor and developing nations, using its financing depth and experience to help provide developing countries with some of the financial resources they need.  This has taken place through regular Bank Group investments, as well as new or enlarged initiatives such as the Climate Investment Funds ($6.3 billion pledged with $3.2 billion in investment plans already endorsed to support more than $30.5 billion in clean technology projects) and carbon finance funds (the World Bank manages more than $2.5 billion in mitigation and adaptation investments across 11 funds and facilities financed by 16 governments and 66 private sector companies).

The Bank Group has also ramped up its creation and sharing of knowledge on the causes and impacts of climate change and the mitigation and adaptation activities required to fight it.  Recent knowledge products, often done at the request of or in conjunction with national governments, include a major study, The Economics of Adaptation; low-carbon growth studies with a number of developing countries, and a major report on the human dimensions of climate change.  The Bank Group’s flagship World Development Report 2010  on development and climate change was also launched in September.  It called for nations and individuals to “act now, act together, and act differently” on climate change and showed that developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries.

According to UNFCCC, about 85% of the financing needed to tackle climate change must come from the private sector. The World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) experience shows that climate-friendly investments in emerging markets are real opportunities for private companies, financiers and institutional investors.  IFC invested more than $1 billion in clean-energy projects in FY09.  Since 1990, the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which provides political risk insurance, has provided guarantees totaling over $2.5 billion for green infrastructure projects in all regions of the world.

Šaltinis: www.worldbank.org
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

European Parliament delegation to join UN climate talks in Cancún

An official delegation of 15 MEPs will join the final week of the UN climate change conference in Cancún, Mexico (6-10 December) to press for critical steps to be made towards a binding international deal. more »

Snow causes Europe travel chaos

Snow storms across western Europe cause travel chaos forcing the closure of airports, schools and severely impacting public transport. more »

Serbia's EU membership path

Serbia's progress on reform, and the Council's recent request that the Commission examine its EU membership application, were welcomed in a Foreign Affairs Committee resolution approved on Wednesday. more »

Bush fire rages in Australia

Firefighters race to put out a fire in south of Perth believed to have been deliberately set and that has already destroyed 250 hectares of bush. more »

Anti-N Korea balloons take flight

Protests against last week's North Korean artillery attack continue in the South, including the launch of balloons with anti-North Korea leaflets. more »

Suu Kyi reassures prisoner families

Recently freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi meets the families of political prisoners still being held by the government in Myanmar. more »

Parliament welcomes Commission's quick adoption of new Draft Budget

Following the presentation of a new Draft Budget for 2011 by the European Commission today, President Jerzy Buzek said “Parliament will do its utmost to reach an agreement before the end of the year, so that by the beginning of 2011 all the EU projects and policies will be fully operational”. more »

Protests in Ireland over bailout

Thousands take to the streets in Dublin in a mass protest against drastic spending cuts and the international bailout. more »

3rd Africa-EU Summit: team up for more “Investment, Economic Growth and Job Creation”

On 29-30 November, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, will attend the Africa-EU Summit in Tripoli (Libya). more »

EU crisis mechanism needed for disasters or terrorist attacks

A special European Crisis Reaction Mechanism should be set up to help cope with any chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear disaster caused by an accident or terrorist attack, believes the EP Civil Liberties Committee. more »