SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES CLIMATE CHANGE WORKING GROUP’S FINDINGS,

URGES DECISIVE ACTION BY STATES

 

The following statement was issued on Friday, 6 April, by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General welcomes the release of the findings of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  He expresses his concern that the impacts of climate change are increasingly noticeable, and likely to become more so in the future, as extreme weather events intensify.  Adequate, large-scale adaptation measures have the potential to alleviate some of the worst consequences outlined in the report, if Governments take action without delay.  The Secretary-General hopes that the parties to the Convention on Climate Change will work decisively towards a comprehensive framework to replace the existing regime once it expires in 2012.  He hopes the parties will avail themselves of the opportunity to make progress towards such a framework at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali in December this year.

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For information media • not an official record