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World Bank
The World Bank Group announced that a group of prominent leaders will add their support to its efforts to drive climate action that will deliver on the Paris climate change agreement.
The three global leaders are:
- Kofi Annan, founder and chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, former UN Secretary General and Nobel Peace Laureate.
- Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Vice Chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.
- Feike Sijbesma, CEO and Chairman Managing Board of the Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company Royal DSM and co-chair of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition.
“We are delighted to work with this group of distinguished leaders from both the public and private sector,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “They will help us spur innovation and drive climate action to where it’s needed the most.”
The announcement of the three Climate Leaders follows the Paris Agreement coming into force in late 2016 alongside increased commitment from the World Bank Group to help countries meet their national climate targets through its Climate Change Action Plan.
The Climate Leaders will work closely with President Kim to drive climate action through advocacy across government, business, finance, and civil society.
Kofi Annan:
“Climate change is the most emblematic challenge of this age of globalisation. We cannot refuse that challenge. We have the duty to bequeath a world where all of mankind lives in peace and harmony with nature. As an African proverb says: the earth is not ours, it is a treasure we hold in trust for our children and grandchildren. We must be worthy of that trust. By working together we can defeat the menace of global warming.”
Christiana Figueres:
“I am honored to be joining distinguished colleagues to support the World Bank Group in moving forward on the world’s climate commitments. The Paris Agreement remains the universal underpinning of the collective global commitment to solve the climate crisis and create lasting prosperity for everyone. I welcome the continued commitment from President Kim and the World Bank Group to ensuring this happens, and look forward to our journey together in the months ahead.”
Feike Sijbesma:
“Addressing climate change is urgent and critical to all of us. The longer we take, to move to a low fossil carbon economy, the higher the costs for future generations and those already at risk today. Effective and inclusive carbon pricing can facilitate and speed up this transition. A rapidly growing movement of organizations, including thousands of companies, sees climate action as both an inevitable opportunity and moral responsibility. It is an honor to support the World Bank Group’s climate agenda, which targets key climate-induced risks and challenges to development for all.”
