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Climate Talks More Urgent After Copenhagen

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The UN climate chief said on Wednesday that the result of Copenhagen makes the task of climate talks "more urgent," during his first press briefing after the Copenhagen conference in Bonn, Germany.

"It is fair to say that Copenhagen didn't produce the full agreement the world needs to address the collective climate challenge," said UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer.

"That just makes the task more urgent. It means that the window of opportunity for countries to come to grips with the issue is closing faster than it was before," he said.

De Boer also pointed out the key outcomes of the Copenhagen meeting.

Climate change has been raised to the highest level of government, which is the only level at which it can be resolved, he said.

Moreover, the Copenhagen Accord reflects a political consensus on the long-term, global response to climate change, he added.

"Governments need time to digest what happened," said De Boer, "but cool heads already see these outcomes as a way forward to grasp the bigger, collective goal."

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen ended on December 19, 2009, producing a legally unbinding document, the Copenhagen Accord. Countries agreed to cap the global temperature rise by committing to significant emission reductions, and to raise finance to kickstart action in the developing world to deal with climate change.

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2010)

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