UN Climate Change Summit Calls for the Urgent Action from All

Nearly 100 heads of state attended Tuesday's summit, which aimed at a political consensus and in preperation for the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference to be held in December. For more, correspondent Shen Ting filed this report from New York.

Reporter:
The summit is the largest ever on climate change at the United Nations, just 80 days before the start of the Copenhagen conference. Nations are aiming to wrap up negotiations on an ambitious new agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions that would go into effect in 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period ends.

In his opening remarks for the summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pressed world leaders to speed up their action on global warming and preserve the planet for future generations.

"I call on all the leaders of the industrialized countries in this room to take the first steps forward. If you do so, others will take bold measures of their own. I also call on leaders from developing countries to accelerate their efforts. All countries must do more – now."

US President Barack Obama also delivered a speech on the summit, saying that for too many years, mankind has been slow to respond to or even recognize the magnitude of the climate threat.

"We understand the gravity of the climate threat. We are determined to act. And we will meet our responsibility to future generations."

As the representative for the island countries that are under the most influence from the climate change, the Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed expressed the concern of the island countries.

""We stand here and tell you just how bad things are. We warn you that unless you act quickly and decisively, our homeland and others like it will disappear beneath the rising sea before the end of this century."

He urged world leaders to join them and asked all the countries to seize the opportunity on the road to Copenhagen.

As the summit is not a negotiating session, there won't be any statements or declarations but it is believed that the summit will influence the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference at the end of the year.

Shen Ting, CRI News, the UN Headquarters in New York.