G20 leaders urged to back “Green New Deal”

World leaders meeting in April in London should kick-start a "Green New Deal" to fight climate change and revive the crippled global economy on a sustainable basis, a major U.N. environment meeting was told on Monday.

High on the agenda for more than 100 environment ministers gathered in Kenya this week will be how to draw attention to "green" worldwide financial turmoil and issues amid job losses.

The U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) says political efforts to curb pollution, protect forests and avert global warming have failed, and the world needs to learn from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression.

"We face the unprecedented reality that climate change may very well be the more important economic development than what happens on Wall Street or the financial markets, or in our industries," UNEP executive director Achim Steiner told the start of the February 16-20 meeting.

"The question truly is, can the environment afford to be put on the waiting line, or is it indeed part of the solution?"

A U.N. report presented on Monday at the conference in Nairobi called on G20 leaders to consider proposals for a "Green New Deal," and develop framework ideas toward securing a global climate change agreement at talks in Copenhagen in December.

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Source: Reuters