Speech by State Secretary Ib Petersen Addis Ababa, 3 September 2009

Abstract

Speech by State Secretary Ib Petersen at the special APF session on climate change. State secretary Petersen, on his remarks highlighted that, Climate change is a global challenge that requires a global solution. Global action is in everyone’s interest and a new agreement must have everybody on board. The agreement must be ambitious, but it must also be fair. It must be sufficiently ambitious to save the world from the consequences of climate change. We must acknowledge that climate change is a particular challenge to developing countries. For Africa, the urgency of the matter is even more striking. The poorest countries are often the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. Action on adaptation requires substantial new financing. It is important that the need for substantial new climate financing does not side-track our focus on poverty reduction. Redirecting official development assistance to climate financing is not the solution. Climate change is threatening our aim of achieving stability and security, human well-being, global freedom and prosperity.