29 November 2008: At the opening of the International Conference on Financing for Development to Review Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, taking place in Doha, Qatar, from 29 November-2 December 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for “bold and effective efforts” to ensure that “today’s emergency does not become tomorrow’s human crisis.”

Ban noted that the financial crisis compounds other major threats such
as climate change, food insecurity and extreme poverty, and stressed
the particular vulnerability of the poorest countries. He highlighted
the need to continue fighting climate change as part of the solution to
the current economic downturn, explaining that investing in green
technologies will produce long term results, with a safer environment
and more sustainable growth. He pointed that “the record shows that
green investment can produce jobs and spur growth.”
On the eve of the
Conference, Secretary-General Ban hosted an informal high-level
retreat, which sought to propose concrete actions that: limit the
impact of the financial crisis on developing countries; maximize the
potential for responses to the crisis that also address climate change;
and allow for a strengthened and more inclusive multilateralism to
develop that will allow faster and more coordinated actions to tackle
common challenges. [Informal High-Level Event] [Financing for Development Review Conference] [UN Press Release]