GENEVA (AFP) — The European Union wants to be a 'catalyser' in a global search for a deal on climate change, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said at a humanitarian forum on Wednesday.
The bloc could put on the table some objectives to discuss and find consensus around, he explained.
"We think that it is important that the EU assumes responsibility as a catalyser of the solution," he told the first high-level meeting of the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva.
The forum was holding a two-day conference during which luminaries from the worlds of politics, business, diplomacy and development discussed how best to adapt to climate change.
During a session on the necessity for global cooperation, Solana highlighted the importance of differentiation -- different countries having different responsibilities depending on factors such as historic contribution and current development.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan opened the forum he founded Tuesday with a call for 'climate justice', saying that it was polluters who should pay for the effects of climate change, and not the poorest and most vulnerable.
He said funding should be made available to help disadvantaged communities adapt to the effects of global warming as he urged for the international community to focus on adaptation measures.
"We must have climate justice. As an international community, we must recognise that the polluter must pay and not the poor and vulnerable," said Annan at the first high-level meeting of the forum.
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