The World Bank today welcomed the renewed commitment by the Heligendamm G8 Summit to fight climate change and to engage emerging economies in this process. As part of the United Nations system, the Bank also welcomed the clear indication that the G-8 process will feed into the discussions for a post-2012 climate regime within the UN framework.

Katherine Sierra, Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank, expressed her support for the clear linkages established by the Declaration between climate change and development. “G-8 leaders recognized that rich countries need to take the lead in order to get action at the global level,” she said, adding that “developing countries should not be constrained in their development efforts as a result of a fossil fuels intensive development path pursued in rich countries. With the right incentives, they can pursue economic growth and at the same time, move to a lower carbon economy.”

The G-8 Declaration endorsed a number of key initiatives that the Bank is pursuing with other development partners, including the role of market mechanisms such as carbon trading, the creation of a forest carbon partnership for avoided deforestation (deforestation causes 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions), a financial framework for energy efficiency and clean energy, and the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership.

“We are committed to broadening these efforts,” Sierra concluded. “If an ambitious post-2012 agreement (when the Kyoto protocol expires) for curbing greenhouse gas emissions is reached, carbon trading could deliver between US$20 to $120 billion per year to developing countries within a few decades, facilitating the deployment of clean energy.”