UN chief hopes climate pact set in Dec

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-18 03:11

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday said he expected world leaders to push aside national interests to pave the way for an international climate pact in December.

"I have been urging (government leaders) to speak and act as global leaders and to go beyond their national boundaries for the future of the whole of humanity," he told reporters. "I need their political leadership."

On September 22, over 100 heads of state and government will meet at UN headquarters in New York to participate in a series of roundtable discussions geared towards generating political momentum before an international deal is supposed to be reached in December in Copenhagen.

However, on Wednesday it was reported that top United States energy and climate leaders have openly admitted that climate talks will trickle into 2010.

Negotiations have stalled on several fronts including a division between rich and developing nations on what is expected and how much funding industrialized nations should provide.

But Ban, optimistic as always, said that the mere fact so many world leaders were coming to the UN next week showed just how far the international community has come in raising awareness about the calamitous effects of climate change.

"Have you ever seen in climate change negotiations such a large number of heads of state gathered at one place in one day?" he asked. "Even two years ago, when we first convened this informal summit meeting on climate change in 2007, there were just a handful of leaders who were able to speak about climate change."

"Now I believe that almost all the leaders of the world know (and) realize that this is an issue of great urgency," he said.

In particular, China and the US will be "two key players," responsible for pushing through a climate treaty, said Ban, who also stressed that industrialized countries had the financial and historical responsibility to lead the campaign.

With only 81 days left before leaders meet in Copenhagen, including 15 actual days for negotiations, the sands of time are slipping away.

"The current slow progress of negotiations is of deep concern," he said. "We want world leaders to show they understand the gravity of climate risks, as well as the benefits of acting now. We want them to publicly commit to sealing a deal in Copenhagen."