United Nations (New York), September, 24 2007 - Representatives from nearly 160 countries, including more than 70 heads of state, are taking part in a high-level, informal discussion on climate change. The Secretary-General convened this meeting to give participants an opportunity to exchange views on the challenges of climate change and how to respond to it.

Addressing the opening plenary monday morning, the Secretary-General stressed that science has proven that climate change is real, and it is affecting most those who are the least able to cope.

“Today, the time for doubt has passed. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has unequivocally affirmed the warming of our climate system and linked it to human activity,” he said, adding that those scientists had very clearly outlined the severity of the problem and their message had been simple: we know how to act; if we do not act now, the impact of climate change will be devastating; and we have affordable measures and technologies to begin addressing the problem."

That was why he had invited the leaders of the world to join him for the high-level meeting. He called for national action, with industrialized countries taking the lead in reducing their emissions and support for adaptation being provided for poor countries.

But national action alone is not enough, he said. "Climate change must be confronted within a global framework, namely the UN’s climate change process." He stressed the need for "a breakthrough at the upcoming negotiations in Bali," on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

“The unprecedented challenge of climate change demands unprecedented leadership. Leadership that is ready to set new directions. Your leadership,” he said. Such high-level participation was all the more important, because the effects of climate change were already being felt around the world –- and mostly by those that were least able to cope with it. Indeed, the terrible irony for many developing countries was that, though they had contributed the least to the process of climate change, they were the ones most at risk from its consequences. For some island States and peoples, it was a matter of survival. “The moral imperative could not be clearer,” Ban Ki-Moon added.

R.K. Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the Panel would present its synthesis report in mid-November, which would be the most policy relevant document in its series. Discussing the Panel’s findings, he said the human race had substantially altered the Earth’s atmosphere. In 2005, the concentration of CO2 exceeded by far the natural range over the last 650,000 years. Indeed, climate change was accelerating: the twentieth century had seen a temperature increase of 0.74° C and a sea level rise of 17 centimetres.

He said the reduction of glaciers was worrisome, as that had consequences for the availability of water. Precipitation changes were also taking place. Rainfall and snow had increased in temperate regions, but had decreased in Mediterranean regions, a phenomenon that had been exacerbated by extreme precipitation events. Water scarcity would increase in several parts of world and there were concerns over food security, as crops on which communities were dependent would suffer declines.

Discussing the various impacts of climate change, he said the Arctic region was warming twice as fast as rest of the globe, and Africa as whole would likely see 75 million to 250 million people affected by water stress by 2020. Small island developing States were under threat of sea level rise and cyclones. Asian mega deltas were also vulnerable, particularly those with high population density. Coastal regions were threatened by flooding. The inertia of the system was such that climate change would continue for decades, even with stabilization measures. Mitigation efforts must complement adaptation strategies. The costs of adaptation would keep rising as global temperatures increased, while the costs of mitigation would be lower than estimated.

Regarding policy actions, he said a price on carbon was crucial, as technology developments alone would “not do”. Lifestyle and behavioural changes -- such as walking and cycling -- were also needed. "The time was up for inaction."
(Various UN sources)

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