Reaching new climate deal will be toughest challenge yet: Ban

Dec 7, 2007, 4:24 GMT

New York - Finding global agreement on the future of climate change action is one of the toughest challenges ever dealt with in the multilateral arena, but failure is not an option, United Nations Secretary Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.

That challenge is facing its 'biggest moment yet,' Ban said as government representatives are meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali this week to formally launch negotiations on a climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The goal is to have a new deal by the end of 2009, to allow time for countries to ratify the new treaty before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

'That leaves only two years to negotiate one of the most complex multilateral treaties ever undertaken,' Ban told reporters in New York. The secretary general will join the UN Bali conference on Saturday.

'Difficult as this path may be, we have no choice. The science has spoken loud and clear. The debate is over,' Ban said. 'We must think not only of ourselves but our children.'

Kyoto, which has been in effect since 2005, for the first time limited the greenhouse gas emissions - blamed for global warming - of industrialized countries. But countries have been heavily divided over whether reduction targets for developing nations should be included in a post-Kyoto deal. The United States never ratified Kyoto, largely because developing nations were left out.

Ban said he believed 'as a matter of principle,' that all nations should have mandatory caps on their emissions. But he said the specifics of a future climate deal should be worked out between governments.

'My hope is that, in the course of future negotiations, the international community will be able to agree on this issue,' he said.

More than 10,000 government representatives, scientists and environmentalists have been gathered in Bali since Monday. The talks are set to last until December 14.