UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used his opening address to the General Assembly's 64th ministerial session to exhort world leaders to "rise to the greatest challenge we face as a human family" and secure a
global deal on climate change.
His words come just a day after the one-day
climate summit he convened in New York, which was attended by more than 100 of the world’s leaders, and is perhaps an indication of the limited progress made there.
The purpose of yesterday’s high-level gathering was to remove some of the many obstacles that still stand in the way of securing a meaningful climate treaty at the
UN conference in Copenhagen in December. Some progress was made – but many commentators have questioned whether it was enough.
One of the most notable break-throughs came when Chinese President Hu Jintao promised the country would invest in
green energy and presented a new plan to tackle emissions linked to economic growth – though he stopped short of putting specific figures on the table.
He also highlighted one of the most persistent obstacles to a
global climate deal, namely its treatment of the developing world.
“It is important to listen to their voice and respect their wishes, and combine our efforts to address
climate change with those to promote the growth of developing countries and build up their own dynamism for development and ability for sustainable development,” he said.
Much of the negative comment about the summit was directed at President Obama who, facing a domestic battle over healthcare reform, urged global action to slow climate change but he stopped short of announcing new domestic measures to tackle the problem.
Reuters quoted Michael Allegretti, US policy advisor at the international NGO the Climate Group as saying: "Obama's speech in my opinion was as much directed at a US audience. He's aware that the healthcare debate is taking the oxygen out of the political debate (on climate). He appears to be keeping a bit in the bank, perhaps to make a bolder statement before Copenhagen."
A number of seasoned summit-watchers have expressed the cautiously optimistic view that other recession-hit world leaders are keeping their powder dry – waiting until the last moment before making concessions.
While clearly intending to keep up the pressure, Ban Ki-moon himself expressed the view that the summit had done its job. He said world leaders had demonstrated leadership “so that negotiators will get clear guidelines and directions”.
The Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will be the official host of the
Copenhagen meeting, was similarly positive, telling
The Guardian that the deadlock had been broken.
He added that he was now inclined to invite heads of state and government to the talks – picking up the challenge thrown down by Gordon Brown last week when he became the first world leader to announce his intention to attend the conference.
Others in Denmark seem less inclined to think a deal can be secured in Copenhagen in December.
The
UN’s Climate Change Conference website today quotes Professor Ellen Margrethe Basse, head of the Climate Panel and Climate Secretariat at Aarhus University in Denmark, expressing the view that failing to make a deal in Copenhagen is OK – as long as the UN climate conference reaches agreement on important issues leading to an agreement in 2010.
“If the conference succeeds in political agreement on central issues and in adjusting the road map for negotiations leading to a deal in 2010, there will still be two years to go, before the Kyoto Protocol expires," she says.
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