Ban to visit Arctic in a push to "Seal the deal"

Thursday, 30 July 2009 08:20

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today (29 July)  that he will head to the Arctic polar ice rim late next month as part of his ongoing efforts to push for action ahead of a major climate change conference to be held in December in Copenhagen.

The trip follows Mr. Ban’s visit – the first by a UN Secretary-General – to Antarctica in November 2007, during which he saw first-hand the effects of climate change on the continent’s melting glaciers.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Antarctica in November 2007 to see first-hand the effects of climate change on the melting glaciers

It is part of the UN chief’s ongoing efforts to press Member States to “seal the deal” on a new global pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which contains legally binding targets for reducing emissions, when they meet in Denmark at the end of this year.

“We have less than five months to seal a deal,” Mr. Ban told journalists at his monthly news conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

“To keep up the momentum, I will travel to the arctic polar ice rim later next month to get a first-hand look at conditions there – in particular the melting sea ice.”

 The Secretary-General, who has described climate change as the “defining challenge of our era,” has been pressing for achieving “a fair, effective and scientifically ambitious deal” in Copenhagen that can benefit all nations.

100 heads of state at General Assembly

That is why he is convening the largest-ever gathering of leaders on the issue at a summit to be held in September in New York to build further momentum ahead of the December conference. More than 100 heads of State and government are expected to attend the 22 September gathering, he told reporters.

“Two years ago, only a few leaders could speak to these issues,” he said. “Today, leaders are walking the road to Copenhagen together.” The Secretary-General, who has described climate change as the “defining challenge of our era,” has been pressing for achieving “a fair, effective and scientifically ambitious deal” in Copenhagen that can benefit all nations.

That is why he is convening the largest-ever gathering of leaders on the issue at a summit to be held in September in New York to build further momentum ahead of the December conference. More than 100 heads of State and government are expected to attend the 22 September gathering, he told reporters.

(Source: UN.org)