7 October 2008: In a press conference at the UN Headquarters
in New York, US, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon characterized climate change
as the “defining challenge of our era,” and warned that the fight against this
challenge risks being “obscured by shorter-term problems, and in particular the
deepening financial crisis.” He expressed the hope that the climate
negotiations scheduled to take place in December 2008 in Poznan, Poland, will
result in increased cooperation and agreement on a timeframe of work, as well
as “a strong willingness” by developed and developing countries to lead on this
issue.

Noting that the current financial crisis is “a passing storm from which
we will recover,” he cautioned that it is not the case for the “potential
catastrophe of global warming.” He praised Japan’s leadership in this area through
its “Cool Biz” programme, which inspired the UN’s own “Cool UN” scheme, which
aims to reduce the Organization’s emissions and raise awareness of its staff of
climate change. [UN
Press Release]