At Davos, UN chief meets Republic of Korea, Canada Ministers, urges climate action

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has reiterated the United Nations' ongoing commitment to the post-2015 development agenda and the implementation of a credible climate policy in meetings with senior officials from Canada and the Republic of Korea (ROK), the UN Spokesperson said today.

According to a readout, Mr. Ban met with Christian Paradis, Minister for International Development of Canada, on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and welcomed Canada's leadership in maternal, newborn and child health, as well as its “strong engagement” in shaping the post-2015 development agenda.

In addition, said the Spokesperson, Mr. Ban encouraged Canada to continue playing “an important and constructive role” in climate negotiations leading up to the Paris climate conference scheduled for December.

The Secretary-General also met with Yun Byung-se, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the ROK, in a meeting in which Mr. Ban asked for the Asian State's “leadership and full support” in assisting with the continuing efforts to tackle climate change and shape the Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, he also expressed his “appreciation” for the ROK's contribution to UN efforts to address Ebola.

Turning to the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, Mr. Ban reiterated his “readiness to support renewed engagement and dialogue” between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on unification issues and expressed his “wish” to see a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations in 2015.