Ban warns of climate change crisis
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for speed in drawing up a new global pact to address the impending climate change crisis.
“Climate change is not just a phenomenon. It is developing into a large scale crisis that threatens large spheres of human development,” Ban said at a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Geneva on Sunday.
He said countries negotiating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol should aim for major progress at an upcoming meeting taking place in Poland in December.
Ban added that it could be wrong to wait until a Copenhagen summit scheduled for the end of 2009 to finalise an accord on tackling rising global temperatures.
Swiss Environment Minister Moritz Leuenberger also addressed the gathering and praised the IPCC for providing “objective, trustworthy information that comes from the most independent sources” on the environment.
The IPCC is the world’s leading scientific and technical body for evaluating climate change and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Switzerland provides financial and scientific support to the IPCC whose secretariat is based in Geneva.
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