Peru’s leadership vital for COP20 UN climate agreement

Felipe Calderón, former President of Mexico, has said that Peru’s leadership role in the upcoming COP20 UN Climate Change Conference in December in Lima raises the chances of achieving tangible progress at the, Peru.

Calderón was in Peru’s capital for the ‘Lima Climate Finance Week’ as politicians, business leaders and leading NGOs met in a bid to scale up financial resources to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Calderón said: “Economically speaking, Peru’s leadership role as successful developing country generates confidence in many poor developing nations, which slightly increases the possibility of reaching an international agreement.”

As chairman of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, Calderón delivered ‘The New Climate Economy' keynote lecture during the summit.

The commission as set up to help governments, businesses and society make better-informed decisions on climate change crucial issues.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru’s Minister of Environment, was a key participant at the summit and highlighted Calderón’s role in redirecting the debate on climate change at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Cancun, Mexico.

Calderón stressed that the COP20 meeting will be crucial in paving the way for legally binding agreements to be reached on schedule at the COP21 negotiations in Paris in 2015.

Pulgar-Vidal encouraged attendees to give climate financing an additional focus in order for it to form a central theme in the draft text of the Paris 2015 agreement.

Pulgar-Vidal cited commitment to the Green Climate Fund and funding transparency as key topics to be addressed in the build up the December conference in Lima.