Post date: Nov 14, 2011 2:26:44 PM
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges governments in rich nations to work around troubled economic times and scale up donations to a global climate change fund that is at risk of becoming an "empty shell".
DHAKA, BANGLADESH (NOVEMBER 14, 2011) (REUTERS) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday (November 14) discussed the challenges of climate change during a meeting in Dhaka.
In a speech to the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) in the Bangladesh capital, representing nations from Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Americas, Ban warned that the world can not afford to delay mitigation and adaptation programmes warranted by climate change.
Ban said most of the money must come from the richest countries. Poorer nations blame wealthy states for the surge in greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are heating up the atmosphere, threatening crop failures and other disasters.
He said countries should act now to donate to the now empty Green Climate Fund.
A U.N. climate conference in Durban, South Africa, from Nov 28 to Dec 9 aims to formally agree the design of the fund and how it will be managed.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said a one-metre rise in sea level could displace 30 million people in her country, a delta nation of more than 150 million on the Bay of Bengal that faces heavy seasonal flooding and intense cyclones.