By WILLIAM M. REILLY

    UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Rio Earth Summit, Kyoto protocol, Bali road map, UN climate summit and Copenhagen Conference, a globe-girdling set of datelines to make the head spin on just what in the world is going on with climate change talks, where are they heading and to what end.

    Don't let the upcoming Pittsburgh G20 economic summit or the impending opening of the annual general debate at the United Nations General Assembly with such leaders as Omar Gaddafi of Libya, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Barack Obama of the United States be a distraction, although they certainly are relevant.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks during the opening ceremony of Climate Week NYC Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 in New York. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    The next stop on the climate change circuit is Tuesday at the UN Headquarters in New York, preceding the annual debate by a day and Pittsburgh summit by two days. It is billed as the largest gathering ever of world leaders on climate change and is the last stop before the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Dec. 7-18.

    But, the officials were not called to New York by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to negotiate.

    "We want world leaders to show they understand the gravity of climate risks, as well as the benefits of acting now," he told reporters last week.

    Why? The real, "incredibly complex," negotiations are bogged down.

    The officials say some nations are afraid to budge before others do, apparently in fear they may commit too much.

    Pressure is being put on because negotiators have only about 15days left at the bargaining table and Ban said "the current slow pace of the negotiations is a matter of deep concern."

    Calling climate change "the defining challenge of our times," the secretary-general said he wanted the summit to demonstrate renewed multilateralism.

    "No issue better demonstrates the need for global security," Ban said. "Now challenge so powerfully compels us to widen our horizons."

    To do that, he wants the leaders to exhibit political will.

    "I have been urging them to speak and act as global leaders," the secretary-general said. "Just go beyond their national boundaries. Work for the future of this whole world, all of humanity."

    Tuesday is not a day for speeches. If leaders wanted that, they were invited to submit videotapes of such talks. Instead, participants from the 192 member countries of the United Nations, including the leaders, will settle in around a series of round-table discussions, or seminars, on climate concerns.

    The take-away: Enlightenment of the other countries' concerns, consequences faced and the urgency of reaching an accord for Copenhagen, senior UN officials said.

    The results of each session were to be compiled and Ban was to wind up the day with a summary report and news conference with Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of Denmark, host for the Copenhagen conference.

    It is hoped that world leaders will then push for an agreement on what amounts to about 200 heavily-bracketed pages now before negotiators. The brackets encapsulate unresolved differences.

    Ban wants the leaders to "Seal the Deal" in the Danish capital, concluding an agreement on what the world should be doing that would enter into force after the first phase of the 1997 Kyoto (Japan) Protocol expires in 2012.

    The Kyoto conclave stemmed from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted at the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Earth Summit, in 1992. It is an international treaty outlining general goals and rules for combating climate change.

    The Kyoto protocol set binding targets to reduce in the period 2008-2012 greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized nations to an average 5 percent below the 1990 levels.

    Developing nations agreed on goals for controlling emissions and mechanisms were set up to encourage developed countries to support poorer ones in adopting green technologies.

    Back in 1988 the UN's World Meteorological Organization established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide a scientific view of what was happening to global climate and the consequences. The IPCC's first assessment report in 1990 led to the 1992 UN FCCC at Rio.

    It's fourth report, issued at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007, found "unequivocal" evidence of a global warming trend and that human activity over the previous 50 years was "very likely" to blame.

    That led to the Bali Action Plan, paving the way for Copenhagen.

    Senior UN officials say the problems are not just North-South differences. Both want to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases and, besides, developing nations suffer more from global warming.

    The problem has gone beyond choosing between growth and well being, The Economist points out.

    Poor countries seek funding to keep global warming down to an increase of 2 degrees Celsius at the cost of 140 billion to 675 billion U.S. dollars a year.

    "For rich countries the problem is environmental: greenhouse gases are accumulating in the atmosphere and must be cut," it said." For developing countries the problem is one of fairness and history: rich countries are responsible for two-thirds of the carbon put into the atmosphere since 1850; to cut emissions in absolute terms now would perpetuate an unjust pattern.

    "Poor countries therefore think emissions per head, not absolute emissions should be the standard," the Economist said.

    Over the years, the United States' position has evolved from one of skepticism and detachment under the administration of President George W. Bush to one of involvement and support under Obama.

    "Now China and the United States will be the two key countries which can make a great impact to this negotiation," Ban said. "However, I would stress that each and every member state of the United Nations has a role to play. It's not only government. It's civil society and non-governmental organizations, even family members. They all have a role to play."



UN chief calls for collective action for climate change response 

    NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday underscored the urgent need for collective action to save the planet on the eve of the largest-ever gathering of world leaders on the issue of climate change.

    Kicking off the first-ever "Climate Week NYC" at New York City Library, Ban called on civil society, faith groups, businesses and governments to join forces to combat climate change. Full story

Chinese president arrives in U.S. for UN meetings, G20 summit

    NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived here Monday for a UN climate change summit and other UN meetings. He will also attend a financial summit of the Group of 20 (G20) in Pittsburgh scheduled for Sept. 24-25.

    President Hu will attend a UN climate change summit in New York on Tuesday, address the general debate of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly Wednesday, and participate in a Security Council summit on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament on Thursday, said Chinese Foreign Ministry officials. Full story

Changing to meet climate change 

    BEIJING, Sept. 22 -- It is imperative to ease transfer of technology between nations to save the world from the looming climate crisis that knows no borders.

    It's 37 years since the UN Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 in Stockholm emphasized the importance of technology transfer in achieving environmental and developmental goals. It's 17 years since the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Only months are left for the meeting in Denmark since the Bali Action Plan was initiated at the 2007 UN Climate Change Conference, which set the goal for an agreement on "deep cuts in global emissions" this December in Copenhagen. Full story

Win-win solutions crucial in global climate change talks 

   UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Nowadays almost everybody, from a government leader to a street vendor, is talking about climate change, described by the United Nations as a defining challenge of our times. The topic becomes even more hectic as the UN Summit on Climate Change draws near, attracting more than 90 heads of state or government in the largest yet gathering on the challenge.

    Indeed, global abnormal climate, such as drought or flooding, has brought disasters to many regions around the world, continuously ringing alarm to the human society. From Myanmar to the United States, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, every country and region is not immune to the impact of climate change. In response, no country can tackle the problem all by itself.Full story