UN chief urges swift, bold actions on climate change

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday welcomed a report by a UN panel on climate change and urged all countries to act swiftly and boldly.

"The secretary-general urges all countries to act swiftly and boldly on climate change, to bring ambitious announcements and actions to the Climate Summit (in New York) on Sept. 23, 2014, and to make every effort needed to reach a global, ambitious and legal climate agreement in 2015," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise at an accelerated pace, the statement said.

"The IPCC concludes that urgent action is needed to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius and that action now will be far less costly than postponing action for the future."

According to the IPCC, there are many pathways still available to significantly reduce emissions, the statement said. "They require using a wide range of technologies and activities that will help the world transition to a low-carbon future and will enable economies to grow and flourish."

The 33-page summary, produced by 1,250 international experts and approved by 194 governments, is meant to guide all countries which have promised to work out a deal by the end of 2015 in a bid to prevent global warming from reaching a dangerous level.

The IPCC, established by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization in 1988, published its latest report in Berlin on Sunday, saying that a global shift to renewable energy from fossil fuels is required to avoid potentially devastating sea level rise, flooding, droughts and other impacts of warming.