Participants of the United Nations Climate Change Conference agreed on Monday that climate change is threatening the survival of human beings and actions are needed to tackle the problem.

The talks, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10, are aimed at searching for solutions to the climate problem. About 25,000 participants from governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations and research institutions of close to 200 countries gathered in Cancun, a resort city of Mexico.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon told the opening ceremony that the Cancun conference shows the responsibility of the human beings to fight global warming.

"The disasters caused by climate change are threatening the survival of human beings. Each topic at the conference has a close link with everyone," he said.

The Copenhagen climate conference held in Denmark's capital in 2009 has reached some agreements although no legally binding treaty was made. According to Calderon, the Cancun conference will continue the progress of fighting climate change. He said that a crucial moment has arrived for human beings to face the challenges of global warming.

"At present, it is more and more expensive to control global warming. We should try to promote the progress between the people and nature and shorten the gap between the developed nations and poor countries with financial support and technological support," he said.

Mario Molina, the Mexican scientist who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry, said that global warming will bring dramatic changes, like the drying up of the Amazon rainforest or the disruption of India's vital monsoon rains.

According to some analysts, it is hard to reach a legally binding treaty at Cancun, but they are hopeful that substantial achievements can be made in financial aid, technological support and forestry protection, which can lay a solid foundation for the South Africa conference next year.

In an interview with Xinhua, Su wei, head of the climate change department of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, said China takes a positive attitude at the Cancun conference.

"Cancun is an important station in the international progress of facing climate changes. We continue to stick to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the 'Bali Roadmap'," he said.

"We hope the Cancun conference can reach positive progress in all the areas where political agreements were made at the Copenhagen summit."

The Cancun conference is another important step for the international community to advance the "Bali Roadmap" negotiations after the conference in Copenhagen last year failed to reach a legally binding treaty for the years beyond 2012.

The parties will try to reach a legally binding treaty at Cancun Conference although the chance is slim. They will also pay attention to the issues including green technology transfer and additional financial support to developing countries.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2010)