Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
November 17, 2007

UN Secretary-General Says Stage Set for Climate Change Breakthrough
-------------------------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A48375:A6F02AD83191E1605E50F8A6ED062C917F0EB4B66EA3A89D& Ban Ki-moon
praises delegates at UN conference in Spain for reaching consensus on
measures to curb human-induced global climate change





UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, right, and Chairman of the UN
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, show the
Synthesis Report of the IPCC at the end of a press conference, 17 Nov
2007U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says a new climate change
report has set the stage for a real breakthrough during upcoming
negotiations in Indonesia.

Mr. Ban Saturday praised delegates at a United Nations conference in
Valencia, Spain for reaching consensus on measures to curb
human-induced global climate change.

The secretary-general said the report's overarching message is that
the threats from climate change are real and there are affordable ways
to deal with them.

At the conference, scientists from about 140 countries reached
agreement on a 20-page summary of scientific data that warns human
activities could lead to abrupt and irreversible climate changes.

Scientists say global warming and other changes could lead to heat
waves, droughts, tropical cyclones, and food and water shortages.

The agreement reached Friday calls on governments to enact policies
aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

Environment ministers from around the world will take up the issue
again next month at a meeting in Indonesia, on the island of Bali.
They are aiming for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions after
2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires.

This week's five-day conference in Spain was sponsored by the
International Panel on Climate Change, which shared this year's Nobel
Peace Prize for its work on the global-warming problem.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


.