By Esra Kaymak Avci
WASHINGTON (AA) – The global economy needs “radical change” in order to tackle climate change, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday.
“Our goal now must be nothing less than a of the global economy,” Ban said while delivering remarks here at the opening of a climate summit. He did not give details about what that change would be.
“Both the United States and China are pivotal for this task,” he said/
The U.S. and China are the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters and agreed last year to significantly reduce their emissions.
But World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, who took the stage after Ban, said that following a Paris climate conference in December, it was significant for countries to start founding regional carbon markets and take action to reduce pollution.
The Obama administration is trying to urge U.S. states to establish regional carbon markets under its Clean Power Plan regulation – a measure that has been met with resistance from states that cite a pending case before the Supreme Court.
Regarding China, reports say carbon emissions may have already peaked there – a lot earlier than Chinese authorities noted during the Paris conference.
This situation would apparently challenge China’s pledge to the Paris deal.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have pressed countries to use their economic influence and technical assistance to impose prices on carbon pollution to reduce emissions.
Signature on the Paris deal is open to countries until next April and it encourages nations to act to accelerate action and drive “political momentum towards ratification and early entry into force of the Paris Agreement,” according to the U.N.
Ban and Kim urged immediate action and that the accord be implemented as soon as possible.
