George Soros delivers harsh words for climate change movement

Beyond billions in government support, what’s really needed to tackle climate change is trillions in private financing, a panel at the opening ceremony of Climate Change NYC said today.

To help with the effort, Steve Howard, CEO of the not-for-profit Climate Group and the panel’s host, joked that anyone whose mobile phone rang during the hour of presentations would be assumed to be wishing to make a donation to the cause. Moments later, as Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s began his remarks from the stage, a phone rang behind him. “I think it’s me,” George Soros, the billionaire financier and philanthropist and fellow panelist, said as he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the offending phone.

Mr. Soros didn’t make mention of a new donation as he took the podium. But he had harsh words for the climate change movement’s foot-dragging, which he said he witnessed firsthand at a disappointing United Nations conference on the topic last year. “If left to the government, change wouldn’t get done,” he said, adding that the public is beginning to lose faith.

Mr. Soros said he’s focused on two specific areas in climate change: protecting rain forests and reducing coal’s carbon footprint.

Rather than spending so much time debating whether global warming should be limited to 1.5 degrees or 2 degrees Celsius, he said, “we must pull together and provide practical results.”