Seoul, May 30 (IANS): South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Sunday opened an international meeting on climate change and the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

The focus of the two-day summit is the development of partnerships between public bodies and private businesses to reach sustainble development goals and implement the Paris climate agreement, DPA reported.

The P4G summit, which stands for Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, functions as a platform to connect governments, businesses, international organizations and civil society.

There are 12 partner countries, including Denmark and the Netherlands in Europe.

Dozens of leaders signed on to deliver messages during the opening ceremony, including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Guterres urged the countries to implement new national climate protection goals, pointing to the disparity between agreed targets and current carbon emissions. There was still a lot to do to close this "emissions gap," he said.