Hatoyama, Obama, Merkel in 'Cli-Matrix' ad urging aid

COPENHAGEN (Kyodo) An ad parodying the hit movie "The Matrix" on Monday urged Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to exert their leadership to provide $200 billion a year by 2020 for developing countries to fight climate change.

The full-page ad in the Financial Times by Avaaz.org, a global campaign network of 3.6 million members, is titled "The Cli-Matrix" and carries the image of the three leaders wearing sunglasses and black outfits worn by the main characters in the 1999 movie. The ad calls on the three to "fund the fight to save the world."

"The gulf between North and South in Copenhagen can still be bridged if three key leaders — Obama, Hatoyama and Merkel — face their responsibilities and wield their true powers," the ad says, referring to the ongoing key U.N. climate conference in the Danish capital.

The group says the richest nations can muster $200 billion a year by 2020 to "free developing countries and the world from enslavement to fossil-fuel-powered machines."

How to finance the massive costs to combat climate change is among the major agenda items at the Copenhagen talks through Friday.

The EU has pledged at least 5.4 billion euro (about $8 billion) through 2012 to help developing countries slash greenhouse gas emissions, while Japan is planning to provide at least $9.2 billion.