Finland Times

 

Minister of the Environment Ville Niinistö and the discussants at the meeting in Pori on Wednesday. Photo – Lehtikuva/ Getty Images.

A panel discussion on 'Low-Carbon Future - From Pledges to Concrete Action' at the Suomi Areena in Pori Finland laid a groundwork for the high-level climate conference of the UN Secretary General, to be held in New York in September 2014.

 

Minister of the Environment Ville Niinistö convened the discussion where actors from different sectors of society including the World Bank Group took part, said a press release of the Ministry of Environment.

 

"Given that the cost of climate inaction outweighs the cost of action, we urge government leaders to put a price on carbon to drive investment towards clean and resilient development," said World Bank Group Vice President Rachel Kyte in the discussion to prepare for the September conference. 

 

Kyte's areas of responsibility include the World Bank's efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as matters pertaining to climate financing, the release mentioned. 

 

In addition to World Bank Group Vice President Kyte, views on building a low-carbon society were also presented by Zambia's Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Wylbur Simuusa, Director Rabab Fayad from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Director of the UN Climate Technology Centre and Network Jukka Uosukainen, Senior Adviser for Sitra and Ombudsman for the Fortum Foundation Jouni Keronen, as well as Richard McLellan, Director of Footprint at WWF International. 

 

"Concrete examples of building a low-carbon economy are now needed.  The Finnish Climate Change Act has already received positive attention on an international level, when Al Gore raised it as an example of the strong actions needed to mitigate climate change. Doing nothing is simply not an option we have," Minister of the Environment Ville Niinistö said. 

 

The aim of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's meeting in September is to make governments, the business sector, financial institutions and organisations enter into significant commitments leading towards a carbon-neutral society, according to the release.   

 

Commitments are needed to limit the warming of the climate to less than two degrees.