The Secretary-General is engaging today in intensive discussions with world leaders who have gathered in Copenhagen for climate change negotiations, and he is convinced that a deal is within reach.

With just hours remaining to close the final gaps, the Secretary-General implored leaders to seize this opportunity. “Now is the time for common sense, compromise and courage.” The Secretary-General worked through most of last night and today with world leaders who are negotiating the final text of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

Speaking to reporters at Headquarters today, Indonesia’s newly appointed Foreign Minister, Marty M. Natalegawa, pledged his Government’s commitment to working with other nations over the coming year to hammer out a legally binding deal to curb heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions and help developing countries tackle the effects of climate change.

Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, today urged journalists not to overlook the “immediate operational consequences” of the recently concluded Copenhagen climate talks, in the form of a widely backed political agreement that would allow the treaty process to begin in earnest.

The Secretary-General said that the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change was a success that marked several advances, including by committing countries to work to limit global temperature rise to below 2° C. He also noted the Copenhagen Accord’s inclusion of mid-term mitigation targets by developed countries and mid-term mitigation actions by developing countries, and the agreement to provide comprehensive support to the most vulnerable to cope with climate change.

In 66 meetings of its sixty-fourth session, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 226 resolutions and 57 decisions, Ali Abdussalam Treki (Libya), President of the 192-member body, said during an end-of-year press conference at Headquarters today. Mr. Treki said the Assembly was now close to completing its programme of work for the first quarter, with five out of its six Main Committees having completed their work. The Fifth Committee was expected to conclude tomorrow.

The Secretary-General welcomes the General Assembly’s new resolution on next year’s planned Millennium Development Goals Summit. There has been progress towards the Goals and it has been mixed. The Summit will be a crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts to meet the Goals by the agreed deadline of 2015.

This morning, the Security Council adopted a resolution imposing sanctions on Eritrea. The text bans weapons sales to and from the country and imposes travel restrictions on the country’s political and military leadership. It also freezes their assets.

The General Assembly concluded the main part of its substantive session early this morning. The Secretary-General expressed his appreciation to Member States for the approval of the programme budget of $5.156 billion for the biennium 2010-2011.

The Secretary-General and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS have welcomed the removal of travel restrictions based on HIV status by the Republic of Korea and by the United States. The lifting of the restrictions took effect on 1 January in the Republic of Korea, and the United States change took effect today.