UN Chief:1.2 Billion Live On Less Than $1.25 A Day

Finnish Ambassador Pertti Majanen, co-chair of the experts committee, said that government aid to developing countries is about double that amount.

The experts said trillions of dollars a year are needed to finance development that preserves the environment. Annual global savings of $22 trillion are sufficient to pay for such things as renewable energy and measures to mitigate climate change, the experts said.

The challenge, they said, is for countries to promote financial systems that give incentives to reallocating a percentage of savings to development programs, including combatting climate change.

Majanen told a news conference that institutional investors' assets today are $80-90 trillion, and only a very small percentage is used for development efforts. He said a better dialogue with the private sector could open "huge possibilities" for greener investments to promote development.

But Majanen warned that "if the Ebola situation will really be exploding and becoming a ... big problem all over the world, getting universal," financing for sustainable development can be severely affected.

"This money I'm discussing, a very big portion of it will be needed for some other purposes there is no choice," Majanen said. "We have to look into the priorities every day and try to select the right priorities, but Ebola will really change the picture."