Washington (Platts)--24Sep2007

At a special UN meeting in New York City on Monday, Ban Ki-moon, UN
Secretary General, said that climate change presents the organization
community with an "unprecedented challenge [demanding] unprecedented
leadership and commitment."

     "The fundamental challenge remains unchanged and has become more
pressing," the secretary general told delegates. "What we do about it will
define us and ultimately the global legacy we leave for future generations."

     The special high-level event -- which was expected to draw over 70 heads
of state and government, from more than 150 countries -- is intended to "send
a powerful political signal" to negotiators who will attend the UN climate
change conference in Bali in December that "business as usual is no longer an
option," according to a UN advisory.       

     Pajendra Pachauri, chairman of the International Government on Climate
Change, said at the meeting that because of the long-lived elevated
concentrations of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, "adaptation is
inevitable, but won't do alone. We need to take mitigation actions [reducing
emissions of greenhouse gases] in the short term even if the benefits aren't
realized for a long time." 

     California's Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has led
efforts to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions, told delegates that,
"The time has come to stop looking back at the Kyoto Protocol." 

     It is time "to stop looking back in blame or suspicion," he said. "The
consequences of global climate change are so pressing, it doesn't matter who
was responsible for the past." 

     "The current stalemate between the developed and the developing worlds
must be broken," he added. "It is time we came together in a new international
agreement that can be embraced by rich and poor nations alike." 

     During the balance of the day, the delegates will meet in four concurrent
plenary sessions dealing with adaptation, mitigation, technology and
financing. The sessions will give the participants an opportunity to state
their countries' polices, but there will be no formal negotiations.

		--Gerald Karey, gerry_karey@platts.com