Climate talks: Time to act is now, says UN chief

Times of India , Thursday, December 13, 2007
Correspondent : Staff Reporter
BALI: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said the time to act on climate change was now and warned that the cost of inaction-- in ecological, human and financial terms -- far exceed the costs of action now. Addressing the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, the Secretary-General said: "We gather because the time for equivocation is over. The science is clear. Climate change is happening. The impact is real. The time to act is now." "Climate change is as much an opportunity as it is a threat. It is our chance to usher in a new age of green economics and truly sustainable development. New economies can and must grow with reduced carbon intensity even as they create new jobs and alleviate poverty," Ban told the gathering on the Indonesian resort island. He also raised the issue of equality in addressing the climate change challenges. He reminded the delegates that though climate change affects us all, it does not affect us all equally. "Those who have done the least to cause the problem bear the gravest consequences," said the UN Secretary-General. "We have an ethical obligation to right this injustice. We have a duty to protect the most vulnerable." UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for a breakthrough in climate talks. He said:" If we leave Bali without such a breakthrough, we will not only have failed our leaders, but also those who look to us to find solutions, namely, the peoples of this world." "This is the moral challenge of our generation. Not only are the eyes of the world upon us. More important, succeeding generations depend on us. We cannot rob our children of their future." The United Nations Sectary-General also led a minute's silence for victims of Tuesday's attacks in the Algerian capital, one of which devastated the offices of the UN refugee agency and UN development programme, killing at least 11 UN staffers
 
SOURCE : Times of India, Thursday, 13 December 2007
 


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