VALLETTA, Malta -- French President Francois Hollande likened the battle against global warming to the fight against terrorism Friday on the eve of the UN-sponsored climate change conference.
Hollande made an extraordinary appearance at a summit of Commonwealth leaders -- an organization of former British colonies and protectorates -- to boost the fortunes of the COP21 climate negotiations that get underway this weekend in Paris.
"Man is the worst enemy of man," Hollande said at a news conference, flanked by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
"We can say it with terrorism but we can say the same when it comes to climate. Human beings are betraying nature, damaging the environment. It is therefore up to human beings to face up to their responsibilities."
His comments came as Canada pledged an additional $2.65 billion over five years to help developing countries adapt to and mitigate climate impacts, a pledge that Hollande and Ban both specifically lauded.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has made fighting climate change a motif of his new Liberal government, reportedly received two rounds of applause during a closed, special Commonwealth session on climate Friday afternoon as he announced the new funding.
"Canada is back and ready to play its part in combating climate change and this includes helping the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world adapt," Trudeau said in a statement.
The new cash is in addition to the $1.5 billion the previous Conservative government contributed to the UN fund since the international community pledged in 2009 to raise US$100 billion by 2020. That means Canada has now exceeded the $4 billion target that environmental groups have been touting as its "fair share," based on the country's national wealth.
The United Nations Children's Fund said the contribution helps establish Canada as a global leader in helping vulnerable children in poor countries affected by climate change.
"We know that children, particularly the poorest, are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, a fundamental threat to their most basic rights, including access to food, water, education and survival," David Morley, UNICEF Canada's president, said in a statement.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion called the climate change funding "historic."
"It's not an equalization payment . . . It's not a transfer. It's for projects that will help," Dion told reporters in Malta.
The Commonwealth meeting -- which Dion likened to "training camp -- was clearly being used as a springboard to the Paris talks.
Ban Ki-Moon praised the biennial gathering for finding common cause on the issue, calling the 53 nations in Malta a "microcosm" of the wider United Nations.
"All the stars seem to be aligning in one direction," said Ban before praising France for carrying on with the massive, two-week climate conference despite the deadly Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris that claimed at least 130 lives.
"Despite such a terrible and horrible terrorist attack, we are not deterred. They (the French) are not deterred," the secretary general said.
"The time for taking action is now. We cannot again delay or postpone it until tomorrow."
Dion said attitudes towards climate change have shifted since he hosted climate talks in Montreal in 2005, when he was environment minister.
"Ten years after, I feel that the countries feel the effect of climate change," he said. "In 2005 they were anticipating it. Now it's a reality."
Trudeau spent much of Friday rubbing shoulders with royalty at the Malta summit.
The prime minister took part in a lunch with Queen Elizabeth, the 89-year-old monarch who royal watchers say may be attending her last Commonwealth meeting.
The summits are only held every two years and the next two are being held in Vanuatu in the south Pacific and Malaysia. In recent years, the Queen has avoided such long-distance travel.
Trudeau met outside the conference with Prince Charles and later delivered the toast to the Queen at a leaders' dinner.
In a text provided to the media, Trudeau paid homage to the Queen as a constant in the development of Canada over the last half century, including opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, cutting Canada's ceremonial centennial cake on Parliament Hill in 1967 and signing off on the repatriation of the Constitution in 1982.
"On that cool day in April, seated next to you, was my father," said Trudeau, 43.
"Pierre Elliott Trudeau was your fourth Canadian prime minister. I am your twelfth."
"In 1947, you famously vowed that your whole life would be devoted to the service of the Commonwealth. You more than honoured your vow."
