Secretary-General's video message to the First Pledging Conference of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), 19-20 November
Statements | Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General
Your Excellency Dr. Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Your Excellency Dr. Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Ms. Héla Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, Honoured guests, Ladies and gentlemen,
I thank the German Government and congratulate all of you for convening this historic conference.
You have travelled a long and difficult path. Yet you have persisted. This Fund is your proud creation.
All countries have played a part, from the smallest and poorest, to the biggest and wealthiest. The Green Climate Fund is a victory for people, the planet and multilateral cooperation.
A well-funded GCF can make a real difference in keeping global temperature rise below the 2-degree threshold.
Developing countries are looking to the Fund to support their mitigation and adaptation efforts, thereby helping to limit climate change and usher in a new era of sustainable development for all. I urge world leaders to make ambitious pledges.
We must build on the successful climate change summit that I convened in September. World leaders and representatives of the business community and civil society were united in their determination to fight climate change.
This momentum has been further boosted by the European Union’s decision on its new emissions reduction targets and the agreement by the United States and China on their post-2020 climate actions.
Today’s pledging conference is another milestone in our common efforts to address climate change. Your success will be crucial to building trust and confidence among member states and, ultimately, will help us reach a meaningful, universal agreement at Paris in 2015.
The I.P.C.C’s 5th Assessment report and recommendations for policy makers make it clear, without ambiguity, that we must take immediate and decisive action. Now is the time for leaders to lead.
I look forward to working with you to meet the climate challenge and build a more sustainable, prosperous and secure world for future generations.
Danke, Thank you.