Global Civil Society Calls for Greater U.S. Leadership in Solving the Climate Crisis

As world leaders gather today at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, more than 125 groups representing constituents in over
100 countries delivered an urgent letter to President Obama requesting
bold action to fight climate change.

The letter asks President
Obama to set 'a vastly higher level of ambition for the United States'
contribution to both greenhouse gas emission cuts and a package of
finance and technology for developing countries.'

"Developing
countries are the least responsible for climate change but are already
bearing the greatest burdens exacted by the climate crisis," said Chee
Yoke Ling, from Third World Network. "People around the world are
looking to President Obama, as the leader of the world's largest
historical emitting country, to take bold action based on U.S.
responsibility and capacity to act."

"The U.S. Congress is
dragging its heels on climate legislation in the lead up to Copenhagen
in December, where key international climate negotiations will take
place," said Elizabeth Bast, international program director at Friends
of the Earth U.S. "The Obama administration must make good on its
pledge that the United States will be a global ally in the fight
against climate change."

International climate negotiations have
stalled out this year over the reluctance of industrialized countries
to commit to reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions to adequate
levels and the provision of finance and technology for developing
country adaptation and mitigation efforts.

See a copy of the letter here.

For more information visit the Third World Network website.