UN chief urges leaders to defy climate change sceptics

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged environment ministers to reject attempts by sceptics to undermine efforts to forge a climate change deal, stressing that global warming poses "a clear and present danger".

In a message read by a UN official, Mr Ban referred to a still-burning controversy over several mistakes made in a 2007 report issued by the UN-affiliated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which drew widespread criticisms and sparked calls for the resignation of its chairman, Rajendra Pachauri.