LOC03:10
00:10 GMT
(With ENV-FRANCE-KUWAIT-SUMMIT)
PARIS, Dec 13 (KUNA) -- Heads of state and government and senior officials from more than 100 countries gathered at the One Planet Summit on Tuesday to once again, underscore how shifting financial flows towards a low-carbon future could benefit peoples and livelihoods.
The gathering which took place on the second anniversary of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, aimed to give momentum for historic agreement which was adopted by 195 countries.
In her address to the event, Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa said: "Today has marked another extraordinary moment in the world-wide efforts to turn the promise of the Paris Agreement into a global reality - in other words delivering a climate secure future to all corners of the Earth and contributing to the sustainable future of every man, woman and child."
"From the United Nations system to governments and investors, billions of dollars have today been mobilized and trillions more pointed towards a transformation of the world's energy to agricultural sectors, adding to the finance that has already been flowing before, during and since Paris 2015," she noted.
"We know this is going to be a long journey and there will be bumps along the way. But the alignment of so many areas of the global economy, the process to reset the financial system and the support for developing countries' national climate action plans or NDCs announced today, should give everyone a sense that the urgency needed and the scale required is being forged.
"We look forward from the UN Climate Conference 2017 in Bonn and the One Planet Summit in Paris, to California, COP24 in Poland in 2018 and the UN Secretary-General's Summit in 2019 as the world moves to raise ambition further before 2020 under the UN climate change process," Espinosa added.
The gathering, co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, led to a Declaration on an array of landmark commitments.
These include helping to demonstrate that public and private finance is rapidly being deployed in both developed and developing countries to strengthen sustainable development and assist nations towards achieving their national climate action plans, known as NDCs.
This momentum also represents a broader reshaping of the world's financial architecture, which will be fundamental to creating the conditions for a successful Talanoa Dialogue next year and the urgency of countries to raise ambition further and faster.
During the event, several announcements were made with a view to helping keep global temperature rises to well below 2 degrees and, in turn, safeguard the meeting of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
As part of the EU External Investment Plan (EIP), which is set to mobilize at least آ€44 billion of sustainable investment for Africa and the EU Neighborhood countries by 2020, Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete announced climate-relevant investments in three targeted areas - sustainable cities, sustainable energy and connectivity and sustainable agriculture, rural entrepreneurs and agribusiness.
These targeted areas are expected to generate up to EUR nine billion investments by 2020.
The new initiatives also include an agreement between the UN Environment and BNP Paribas to establish collaborative partnerships with a target of capital funding amounting to USD 10 billion by 2025 in developing countries.
Another initiative by 225 global investors with more than USD 26.3 trillion assets was launched to drive action on climate change from the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters.
Alongside the ongoing emergency response, Caribbean leaders announced the launch of a new public-private coalition to create the world's first "climate-smart zone" that will transform the regional energy system, build resiliency, drive economic growth and set a global example.
The Caribbean Climate-Smart Coalition will support and help catalyze an ambitious USD eight-billion investment plan to bring greater energy and infrastructure resilience to 3.2 million Caribbean households.
It will help Caribbean islands to eliminate their costly dependency on fossil fuels so that they can meet close to 100 percent of their energy needs from clean or renewable sources, and to embed resilience into communities and livelihoods to realize the bold ambitions of all Caribbean people. (end)
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