World must act now on climate change: UN Chief

Ministers gathering in Bali in an a bid to forge a “road map” for a new international climate change deal were urged today to reach agreement for the sake of the world’s population and future generations.

Opening the top-level section of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said the time to act on global warming was now.

“As we convene here in Bali, the eyes of the world are upon us – this is a historic moment long in the making.

“The science is clear, climate change is happening, the impact is real, the time to act is now,” he warned, adding that price of inaction – including floods, famine, rising sea levels and loss of biodiversity – would be far higher than the costs of taking action.

“Climate change is as much an opportunity as it is a threat. It is our chance to usher in a new age of green economics and truly sustainable development.”

He said countries needed to agree to negotiate a comprehensive climate change agreement which involved serious efforts to tackle emissions by developed countries, as well as providing incentives to developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The atmosphere did not differentiate between a power station in Asia, an SUV in North America or deforestation, he added.

Mr Ban said leaving Bali without agreement on a road map to a new international climate change deal would mean they had failed the people of the world and future generations.

“We cannot rob our children of their future,” he said.

The Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose country is hosting the conference, said: “Every nation must become part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

He said Indonesia, which is one of the world’s top emitters if deforestation is included, was working to conserve 22 million hectares of forest and had planted 89 million trees this year.

At the opening ceremony, the new Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who is one of a handful of heads of state attending the conference, received a prolonged round of applause for signing the Kyoto protocol as one of his first actions after winning the elections.

There was also a round of applause for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore, for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for their work on global warming.