Still 'lots of work' for climate deal

French President Francois Hollande said Sunday that more work was needed to seal a climate agreement at a high-stakes UN conference in Paris at the end of the year.

"The intentions are there and there are plenty of pledges, but there is still lots of work to do between this willingness and the conditions for a credible agreement," Hollande told reporters after convening a climate summit at the United Nations.

"I have only one message -- speed up," he said, calling both for more national plans on reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as on providing financing to help the hard-hit poorest countries.

According to Hollande, 81 out of 190 countries have submitted their plans on curbing carbon emissions blamed for climate change, accounting for 75 percent of the world's total output.

"The entire world is convinced that there will be an agreement in Paris, but the question is, what kind of agreement," he said.

The UN-led conference aims to limit temperature rises to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, a threshold that scientists say will reduce the risks of the worst effects of climate change such as rising disasters.
 

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French president Francois Hollande speaks during a joint press conference

Four billion-euro boost in aid

Meanwhile, on the same day, France said it would ramp up foreign assistance, pumping in an extra four billion euros ($4.5 billion) per year starting in 2020.

President Hollande, announcing the aid boost at a United Nations summit on development, said the move would bring French aid to 12 billion euros annually.

However, he did not specify how the assistance would be divided and whether it would go to fight poverty or climate change.

France has been seeking greater commitments by wealthy countries to nations hardest hit by rising temperatures and sea levels as part of year-end negotiations in Paris aimed at a new agreement on climate change.

Hollande, meeting French ambassadors at a gathering in Paris last month, had said that France would boost aid but had not given a figure.

He made the promise as he announced a new relationship between the French Development Agency and the Caisse de Depot, a public finance institution.

With a budget of around eight billion euros, France's aid budget is 0.36 percent of GDP -- well below the goal set by rich countries of one percent.

One, the campaign backed by rocker Bono aimed at eradicating extreme poverty, welcomed Hollande's announcement but voiced hope the money would go to least developed countries.

"After four years of aid budget cuts, it's high time for France finally to change course," said Friederike Roder, director of the One campaign in France.

"We're waiting to know the details to see if France will be as exemplary as Francois Hollande has announced," she said.

The United Nations on Friday endorsed a goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.

While political leaders widely supported the goal, the United Nations has estimated that it will require up to $5 trillion per year -- a massive commitment.

Activists have voiced fear that climate assistance would simply be redirected from aid aimed at existing goals on health, education and other development areas.

AFP