Paris [France], June 23: France's President Emmanuel Macron has called for the fight against the climate crisis and poverty to be tackled simultaneously, at the start of a summit for a new global financial pact.
"No country should have to choose between reducing poverty and protecting the planet," Macron said in his opening remarks of the Paris summit on Thursday.
He called for significantly more public and private funding to tackle rising inequality. So far, Macron said, not enough has been done in either area. "Without the private sector, we will not be able to meet most of this challenge," the French head of state warned.
At the meeting initiated by Macron, representatives of more than 100 states, international development banks and aid organisations are meeting on Thursday and Friday to discuss ways to make the international financial system fairer.
Under the slogan "Building a new consensus for a more inclusive international financial system," the conference kicked off on Thursday with other high-profile participants such as UN Secretary General AntonioGuterres in attendance. The summit aims to make the current interest rates imposed by international agencies such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) more accessible to developing countries, who are often hit with higher interest rates than developed countries.
It is these countries however, who are most affected by poverty and climate change. Macron called the summit to brainstorm reforms for the global financial order. No binding decisions are to be made at the two-day summit, but guidelines for overcoming the growing gap between the industrialized countries and the countries of the Global South are expected.
Topics to be discussed include debt relief for poorer countries and the necessary investments they need to help them cope with global warming.
Source: Qatar Tribune