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Ban Ki-moon, Bill Gates head climate body
THE HAGUE, Sept 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Former UN secretary general Ban Ki-
moon and billionaire businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates will head an
international commission on climate change to launch next month, the Dutch
government said Monday.
The commission, to be co-hosted by the Global Center on Adaptation, hosted
by the Netherlands in partnership with the World Resources Institute, seeks
to “convince countries across the globe to take measures to arm themselves
against the consequences of climate change,” the Dutch minister for
infrastructure and water management said.
World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will also oversee the Rotterdam-based
commission, which styles itself as a ‘solutions broker’ to speed climate
reform linking governments and inter-governmental bodies, the private and
public sectors according to the announcement which came two days after global
climate protests.
“We hope that the need to adapt to climate change may be felt on a global
scale,” said the minister, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, who added a plan of action
would be unveiled on protecting the zones most vulnerable to climate change
in September of next year.
“Today’s announcements by the Government of the Netherlands is a critical
step forward to set in motion more vigorous attention to and action around
climate adaptation,” said Ban, who said the commission was embarking on a
“worldwide mission to accelerate adaptation”.
Ban, Microsoft founder Gates and Georgieva will be in the Netherlands on
October 16 for a conference officially launching the commission.
The launch comes with a coalition of 17 US states having vowed to challenge
President Donald Trump after his decision to withdraw the United States from
the Paris Accord on climate change and bind themselves by climate change
regulations introduced under predecessor Barack Obama.
Thousands of delegates are meanwhile converging on San Francisco for this
week’s three-day Global Climate Action Summit designed to take support for
the Paris Accord to a new level.
BSS/AFP/RY/1805 hrs