World Bank chief pledges more efforts to combat climate change

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Xinhua) -- World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on Friday pledged that the World Bank was committed to tackling climate change "more than anything else."

"What we have to realize is that climate change is not a future threat. It is here with us today," Kim said at a special event titled "Connect4Climate: Right Here, Right Now" to celebrate creative youth engagement in the effort to combat climate change.

"I want you understand that in a world today, especially the poorer countries, this is a problem with us right now," he noted.

"I'm here today just to deliver a very simple message. The World Bank is committed to tackling climate change more than anything else," Kim said.

Kim proposed starting a social movement to engage broader and more diverse audiences to deliver bold solutions on climate change.

"A social movement will finally make everyone get serious about tacking climate change," he said.

He also encouraged young people from around the world to take an active role in helping to combat the threat of climate change. "We have to listen to the young people," he said.

At the special event, 19 youngsters from 14 countries received prizes in the competition for their photographs, videos and podcasts about climate change.

Connect4Climate is a global partnership dedicated to climate change communication and action launched in 2011 by the World Bank, the Italian Ministry of Environment and the Global Environmental Facility.