The international effort to reduce emissions of gases causing the greenhouse effect will be successful only if it is economically justifiable, said this Tuesday in Hong Kong the former U.S. president Bill Clinton (1993-2001). “We need to figure out how to be economically viable,” he said during an event organized by his foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative.

The former president said the fight against global warming needs to generate income and create jobs to motivate countries to commit itself to the cause of environmental issues pragmatic. Besides Clinton, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Yang Jiechi, the president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other authorities also participated in the event.

The meeting of the organization occurs at the same time that more than 9,000 delegates from member countries of the United Nations (UN) meet in Poznan, Poland, to discuss climate change and try to outline an agreement for the next meeting, scheduled for the coming year in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The participants agreed that cooperation is necessary to achieve a design strategy successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which works in practice and is not a point of confrontation between developed and developing countries.

China and the United States are accusing each other of being the biggest polluter in the world. In absolute terms, the Chinese are the largest emitters of gases causing the greenhouse effect, but argue that the Americans have a level of gas emissions per capita much higher.

Via: Clinton Global Initiative.