Global business leaders collaborate on protecting the environment

World Today

France is pushing the global community to combat climate change. That mission starts with Climate Finance Day. As CGTN’s Mariam Zaidi reports, the aim is to bring together business leaders who can finance energy transition.

When U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Paris Climate accord, the fear was that the absence of U.S. leadership could harm global efforts to combat climate change.

Follow Mariam Zaidi on Twitter @zaidi_mariam

But two years after nearly 200 governments signed on to the deal to end fossil-fuel dependency and limit global warming to “well below” two degrees centigrade. France is leading the charge on climate change to be the symbol for collective action. To win this battle, it needs trillions of dollars of investment to finance green buildings, innovation and clean energy.

The government needs private sector funding. The Climate Finance Summit is the precursor to the “One Planet Summit,” and aims to generate that momentum.

As the summit winded down, a surprise high- level American guest also made an appearance.

“I think it’s very important to send a message but I’m not the only one here. Jerry Brown is here, the governor of California and a lot of people are here, some in spirit. My dream is someday, the President wakes up and looks and says I just read the numbers and changed my mind,”  American media mogul Michael Bloomberg said.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to urge developed nations to increase financing and ask private investors to turn their backs the big polluters.