| Contacts: In Osaka: Tomoko Hirai phone: 090-5496-8066, Email: thirai@worldbank.org In Washington: Carl Hanlon (1-202) 473-8087, Email: chanlon@worldbank.org OSAKA , Japan , June 13, 2008 – The following is a statement made by World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick at a news conference on Climate Investment Funds on the sidelines of the meeting of finance ministers for the Group of Eight (G8). I'd like to first thank Minister Nukaga and the people of Osaka for hosting us in this wonderful city. As the Ministers have said, nowhere are the effects of climate change as visible as in the developing world. The increasing frequency of droughts, floods, and catastrophic climatic events are already hitting the poorest communities the hardest. And at a time of rising food prices, climate change creates more risks for global developing world agriculture. If we are to confront the current and future causes and effects of climate change, we need to learn more about this as a development challenge. We need to find new approaches in sectors ranging from agriculture to water management, from transport to urban development, and from biodiversity to energy access. And we cannot learn without doing. In particular, I want to thank Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States for leading the way in the development and financing of a new tool to counter climate change and to learn more about future needs. I know personally that Secretary Paulson has had a long-standing interest in this topic, and it has been his energy that's been vital to launching this effort. Chancellor Darling and his team in the United Kingdom have worked hard on this on a number fronts, and Minister Nukaga and the Japanese team have had an excellent record on climate change, and I know that the Prime Minister plans to highlight this at the G8 Summit. These climate investment funds have been established through a very inclusive and consultative process that's been in support of the Bali Action Plan. In designing these funds, we have taken great care to recognize the primacy of the UNFCCC in the climate negotiations, and to make sure that we support those negotiations. These funds offer an opportunity to take action on climate change now- in both the areas of climate adaptation and mitigation. Our first priority will be to help vulnerable countries learn how to integrate climate change considerations into their development strategies, and to adapt as necessary to climate change. Under the climate investment funds, the Strategic Climate Fund, and the pilot program on climate resilience, will provide us with critical additional resources to test new approaches and to create new knowledge for effective adaptation. At the same time, we have to help rapidly developing countries implement their sustainable development strategies. So the Clean Technology Fund will provide additional funds for programs in developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emission levels through increased energy efficiency, and the deployment of new technology and approaches. To be successful, we need concerted global action. Several countries are already taking climate actions through their own sustainable development strategies. Brazil is putting in place policies and programs to reduce emissions from deforestation. China has reduced its energy intensity by 30% between 1995 and 2004, and India has managed to decouple its CO2 emissions from economic growth for almost a decade. As Hank mentioned, Mexico, under the leadership of the President, has adopted a comprehensive national climate change strategy and is working now on specific implementation plans. So we will work with both developed and developing countries to expand this experience in the world. But while we discuss these issues, climate change is not waiting. So we need to act now. With these climate investment funds, the World Bank and the other multilateral development banks, together with developing country and donor country partners can start making progress today by supporting innovative and pioneering initiatives, creating a new body of experience and knowledge, and developing actions and processes that will inform the negotiations on the future of the climate change regime. We will continue to work with these early stage contributors to reach out to others, as Hank said, and we are very pleased that the climate investment funds are a concrete step forward in meeting the challenge of global climate change. Again, I want to thank our partners for their vision, their spirit of cooperation working with other developing country partners, and for their generosity. ### |
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