[2026-05-21] Former UN chief urges United States to ‘do its part’ for global climate action during forum in Seoul

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a joint conference hosted by the Global Green Growth Institute and the Green Climate Fund at the Four Seasons Hotel in central Seoul on May 21. [GGGI]

 

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the United States to return to the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, as well as its other international obligations, to “do its part” as a global leader in a forum on sustainable green growth in Seoul Thursday.

“The world today, unfortunately, is full of conflict, growing uncertainty and constrained resources, and cooperation on sustainability betterment is becoming more complex,” Ban said at a joint conference hosted by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) at the Four Seasons Hotel in central Seoul.

“The United States for the second time withdrew from the Paris climate change agreement,” Ban said, referring to the legally binding international treaty adopted by 195 members at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on Dec. 12, 2015, and enacted in 2016. The first time Washington withdrew was in 2020 during the U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term in office. The United States again withdrew from the Paris Agreement on Jan. 20 last year, the same day Trump took office for a second nonconsecutive term.

 

“As one of the hard workers at the United Nations bringing this climate change into reality, I am deeply sorry, depressed and worried about the way our dear, most respectable country, the United States, has walked from the Paris climate change agreement,” Ban, president of the Assembly and Chair of the Council of GGGI, said. During his tenure as UN secretary general from 2007 to 2016, Ban had been a strong proponent for the ratification of the Paris Agreement, which took years of negotiations to complete.

The inaugural GGGI-GCFK Joint Conference on Thursday brought together over 180 diplomats, experts and officials to discuss global climate action and finance.

 

“In addition to that, the United States has withdrawn from 31 United Nations organizations, and 35 very important international organizations, 66 all together,” Ban said. “Please return, our dear friend, United States,” he said, calling on Washington to “do their part” in global leadership.

“And I’d like to urge everyone to double down during these challenging times so we may leave a better world for future generations,” Ban said. “This is a world we will only live in once.”

He said that succeeding generations, “wherever they may be living,” should be able to live in a sustainable, climate-friendly environment, without a lack of water and safe from preventable human diseases, all in line with the UN social development goals.

 

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, eighth from left, Kim Sang-hyup, executive director of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), seventh from left, members of the diplomatic corps in Korea and other dignitaries take a commemorative photo at a joint conference hosted by the GGGI and the Green Climate Fund at the Four Seasons Hotel in central Seoul on May 21. [GGGI]

 

Jordanian Ambassador Asal Al-Tal and Zambian Ambassador Andrew Bwezani Banda shared their country’s contributions to climate actions, while Korean Second Vice Minister of Finance and Economy Chang Huh expressed Seoul’s vision.

“Korea is not simply providing a location for international organizations; it is helping to shape a new ecosystem where policy, finance technologies and global partnerships come together in one place,” said Kim Sang-hyup, the executive director of the GGGI.

“In this sense, Korea continues to grow as a next-generation hub for a sustainable world. This vision is reinforced by recent developments in Korea’s innovation landscape. Google DeepMind has announced a partnership with the Korean government to establish an AI campus in Seoul which plans collaboration in areas including energy, weather and climate. The government is also strongly signaling its intention to support collaboration in Korea among international actors working on both AI and climate challenges.”

The GGGI, an international organization headquartered in Seoul, was established in 2010 with the aim of leading global efforts for sustainable economic growth. The GCF is also a Korea-based international institution aiming to help developing countries with climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts from its headquarters in Incheon. The Trump administration also withdrew from the GCF.

The GCF introduced ways countries can respond to climate change with the global fund during the second session of the conference, which included becoming a GCF-accredited entity or investor.

The Korea Development Bank (KDB) is a GCF-accredited entity and has cooperatively worked on financial projects.

“We are currently implementing three GCF partnership projects that go beyond simple grant-based funding structures by integrating financial products,” Park Se-kyung, team head of KDB’s Global Financial Cooperation Center, said. “Based on this framework, we support green activities across the entire spectrum of lending, investment and consulting, and we aim to provide 28 percent of our total lending as green finance by 2030.”

Green activities and green finance refer to investments and financial support for projects that help protect the environment, reduce carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency and promote sustainable development.

Park also highlighted KDB’s financing program that provides loans to environmentally friendly projects.

“The KDB structured the project to provide a total of $100 million in direct and indirect green loans through Cambodia’s Agricultural and Rural Development Bank by combining $50 million from the GCF with $50 million in cofinancing,” Park said. “The KDB also included separate grant funding to support the smooth operation of the project and help build the local green finance ecosystem.”

 

By Sarah Kim kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr