UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme Achim Steiner said UNEP welcomes the G7 leaders’ agreement on decarbonising the global economy for climate change.
IndiaCSR News Network
NAIROBI: UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme Achim Steiner said UNEP welcomes the G7 leaders’ agreement on decarbonising the global economy for climate change.
“The United Nations Environment Programme welcomes the G7 leaders’ agreement that decarbonising the global economy over the course of this century is required to mitigate climate change.
“UNEP also welcomes other G7 environmental commitments in the declaration, including among others their reaffirmation of a 2009 pledge to raise US $100 billion in annual climate financing from public and private sources, and decisions on the post-2015 sustainable development goals, resource efficiency, marine litter, and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy in Africa. UNEP stands ready to contribute to these initiatives.
“This declaration is a significant stepping stone toward a future of 100% renewable energy. The world is indeed capable of achieving a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy, but still more must be done.We encourage all countries to recognize the need for ambitious national commitments for GHG emissions reduction pathways in the run-up to this year’s Paris Climate Conference”
“Industrialized countries – like the G7 – have the capability to play a leading role in establishing forward-looking national mitigation contributions.With their leadership, we can achieve an agreement in Paris this year that will enable the world to combat climate change effectively.”
Background
Research by UNEP’s Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System shows that tackling climate change requires economic transformation and a re-channeling of private finance to enable the orderly transition from high-carbon to low-carbon investments, and also from vulnerable to
resilient assets.
To create lasting value in the real economy, we need to continuously evolve the effectiveness of our financial system thereby aligning the financial economy with the needs and markets of the future. Recent trends such as last year’s US$ 270 billion market for renewable energy investments and the emergence of new principles, standards and incentives for the fast-moving ‘green bond’ market are indicative of the scope for transformation.
Integrating sustainability criteria that include environment and social factors into the rules that govern the financial system can substantially strengthen the resilience of the world’s financial systems, which has been a key goal of governments and regulators since the global financial crises of 2008. If brought to scale, the approximately US $300 trillion global financial system could help close the widening gap in sustainable development investment.
