31 August 2008: In a press conference given on the occasion
of the twentieth anniversary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) in Geneva, Switzerland, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated
the IPCC for its accomplishments and for removing any doubt that climate change
was happening with its Fourth Assessment Report.

He said scientists had,
thereby, given political leaders and the UN the mandate to find solutions. He
described his efforts in making climate change the UN’s highest priority and
indentified a lack of political will to address the issue.
He called for the UN
climate meeting in December 2008 in Poznan, Poland, to be a “very successful
bridge towards Copenhagen,” and for a “very effective, inclusive, balanced and
ratifiable treaty replacing the Kyoto Protocol” by 2009. Responding to a
question on the role of the US in the climate discussion, Ban said it should
exercise greater leadership and that he expected the future US President to
lead the campaign against global warming with increased funding and technology
transfer to developing countries.
He expressed the view that whoever the future
US President may be, he will be in a better position to “address and to lead
this process.” On managing poverty and climate change, Ban stated that the
world is experiencing a triple crisis: a development emergency; the global food
crisis; and climate change. He also underscored the interlinkages between these
crises and the need for a comprehensive response. [Press
conference transcript]