United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged participants of the ongoing 13th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) here to make a breakthrough in their talks on cooperation in order to overcome universal climate change for future generations, BERNAMA quoted ANTARA as reporting. The UN chief made the call at the opening of a meeting of more than 120 environment ministers intended to to lay the groundwork for a new UN pact to slow climate change. "As we convene here in Bali the eyes of the world are upon us. This is a historic moment, long in the making," the UN chief said, noting that the meeting was taking place "after years of heated argument among the world's policy makers, countless media stories debating the linkage between observed natural disasters and global warming." Ban reminded the participants that it was their chance to live up to what their leaders had been calling for. "If we leave Bali without such a breakthrough, we will not only have failed our leaders, but also those who look to us to find solutions, namely the people of this world," Ban said. He pointed out overcoming climate change was also a moral challenge for the world's present generation. "This is the moral challenge of our generation. Not only are the eyes of the world upon us but more importantly, succeeding generations depend on us. We cannot rob our children of their future," he said. "We are all part of the problem of global warming. Let us all be part of the solution that begins in Bali. Let us turn the climate crisis into a climate compact," he said. Ban said what the world expected from the Bali conference was an agreement to launch negotiations towards a comprehensive climate change agreement. "You need to set an agenda - a roadmap to a more secure climate future, coupled with a tight time-line that produces a deal by 2009," he said. The UN chief said the climate change issue was affecting all of the countries represented at the conference but it was not affecting them equally. "Those who are least able to cope are being hit hardest and those who have done the least to cause the problem bear the gravest consequences," he said. Therefore, Ban said, the Bali conference delegates had an ethical obligation to right this injustice, for it was their duty to protect the most vulnerable. He said any agreement should look to the developed countries to continue taking the lead in curbing emission while developing nations needed to be given incentives to limit the growth of their emissions. "Together, we can spur a new era of green economics, an era of truly sustainable development based on clean technology and a low-emission economy," he said.
