Leading international financial institutions call for comprehensive climate agreement

Wednesday, 02 December 2009 12:11

The heads of the world’s leading international financial institutions today called for a comprehensive agreement to combat climate change at this month’s Copenhagen Conference and agreed to further coordinate their own efforts to help achieve the meeting’s ambitious goals.

In a joint statement, the leaders pledged to use their own organisations’ mandates, expertise and resources to help authorities combine with the private sector to confront the challenges of climate change and to make the best possible use of available financing.

The heads of the of the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund also committed their organisations to the use of  technical assistance and funds to further support their environmental goals.  

They recognised the primacy of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in setting the targets for dealing with global environmental challenges.

An agreement in Copenhagen must provide an ambitious, comprehensive and equitable global climate change regime beyond 2012 that enables all countries to achieve sustainable development, they said. The institutions will coordinate with the European Commission and other partners supporting efforts by developing countries to cope with climate change.

The leaders reiterated their commitment to help developing nations adapt to climate change and to facilitate the development and transfer of climate-friendly technology and knowledge according to the needs of individual countries.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that the global economic crisis must not distract us from tackling the important issue of climate change. “Sustaining the recovery and putting in place effective climate change policies can be mutually reinforcing with the right policies implemented resolutely,” he said. “Global cooperation, including among international financial institutions, will help countries to confront the challenges from climate change. These require innovative and long-term solutions, which have a part to play in supporting the recovery and sustainable growth. The IMF can assist in its areas of expertise to advise on policies and support countries that are most vulnerable to economic and climate challenges,” Strauss-Kahn noted.