Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 20th, 2007
by Pincas Jawetz (PJ@SustainabiliTank.com)
From: Brian Thomson <BThomson@wwfint.org>
WWF’s Media Advisory for the UN’s Climate Change Summit in New York, which takes place this coming Monday, 24 September.
The Advisory includes an invitation to an NGO Press Briefing at the UN Building on Monday morning at 0930 local time in room S-226. One-to-one interviews will be available following the briefing and throughout the day in reaction to the Summit’s findings.
There will also be a reactive Press Statement following the Summit.
Any questions please don’t hesitate to call Brian Thomson.
WWF says: Ban Ki-Moon clears decks for ambitious climate agenda.
Background: UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, is hosting a special UN Climate Change Summit in New York on Monday 24 September - it will be attended by over 150 political leaders. The Secretary-General has repeatedly said that climate change is an urgent, global challenge, taking a personal interest in creating a worldwide consensus to stop it. The meeting is expected to send a clear message to the UN’s Climate Change Summit in Bali in December to launch formal negotiations for a climate agreement that builds on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. Heads of State will present their ideas on the action needed in the areas of mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance.
WWF’s “Key Asks” - or is this the wish list?:
• The UN Summit must declare that an ambitious comprehensive climate agreement is negotiated within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, building on the Kyoto Protocol, by no later than 2009. This agreement should set clear targets to reduce emissions for industrialized countries as well as quantifiable actions for more advanced developing nations. “Governments have finally realised that climate change poses a real danger to the planet,” says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme. “For world leaders to come together under the UN umbrella and to commit to deeper cuts in emissions is a watershed moment.”
• Economic assessments indicate that the benefits of early action on climate change greatly exceed the cost of reducing emissions. The UN Secretary-General must call for an end of the fossil fuel age by mid-century. “Clean energy technologies bring many benefits which far outweigh the costs,” says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme. “The impending climate catastrophe could cripple economies and devastate livelihoods, so a new global climate deal to channel investments to clean technologies is a top priority for the Secretary-General.”
• Climate change is already having significant impacts in certain regions - particularly in developing countries such as Small Island States and Least Developed Countries. The UN Secretary -General must call on rich nations to put funds aside to help the poor to deal with the worst impacts of climate change. “This week’s floods in Africa once again show that global warming hits those least responsible the hardest,” says Hans Verolme, Director of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme. “It’s the responsibility of the largest polluters to pay and support the least developed countries to adapt.”
PRESS BRIEFING
Press Briefing at 0930-1015 AM, Monday 24 September, Room S-226, UN Building New York.
Speakers:
• Hans Verolme, Director WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme
• Lo Sze Ping, Campaign Director, Greenpeace China (representing Greenpeace International)
• Meena Raman Chair of Friends of the Earth International
• PJ Partington, Canadian Youth Climate Coalition
Press Pack - All backgrounders, press work, photos, reports etc at http://www.panda.org/climate/UNCS
TV Footage - For broadcast-standard video, please contact the media team.
Spokespeople -
Hans Verolme, Director WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme, e hans.verolme at wwfus.org, t +1 202 492 7358
Media team -
On site: Brian Thomson, WWF International, e bthomson at wwfint.org, t +41 79 477 3559
Off site: Martin Hiller. WWF International, e mhiller at wwfint.org, t +41 79 347 2256 - so those without access to room S-226 could still interview WWF and ask for the event’s achievements.
Brian Thomson
Media Relations
WWF International
Mob +41 79 477 3553
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Posted in Reporting From the UN Headquarters in New York, Global Warming issues, Future Meetings, Kenya, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Geneva, Vienna
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