Friday, November 09, 2007

UN chief calls for action on climate change, poverty during visit to Chile

from the International Herald Tribune

SANTIAGO, Chile: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for urgent action to fight global warming and poverty during a visit to Chile on Thursday, saying climate change was one of his top priorities as head of the world body.

Ban arrived in Chile on the second leg of a 12-day trip that will also take him to Antarctica. His first stop was in Argentina.

In Chile, the U.N. leader attended a round table on "The Global Partnership for Development" with President Michelle Bachelet and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

"We must be actively engaged in confronting the global challenge of climate change, which is a serious threat to development everywhere", he said at the meeting. "Galvanizing international action on global warming is one of my main priorities as Secretary-General."

Ban also urged developing countries to "continue to create a favorable environment for long-term and equitable economic growth."

He recalled that at the Millennium Summit seven years ago, world leaders "pledged a monumental struggle for lasting development, improved health and education, gender equality and environmental sustainability."

But "today, almost one billion people on our planet still live on less than one dollar a day. Millions of children die every year before reaching their fifth birthday from causes associated with malnutrition. Malaria, AIDS and other infectious diseases are taking their toll on countries that can least afford it," he said.

"Clearly, we are facing an emergency. And we need emergency action," he added.

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