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'Crunch time' for climate change 'Crunch time' for climate change
(30 minutes later)
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has opened high-level talks at the climate change conference in Bali with a call to action.United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has opened high-level talks at the climate change conference in Bali with a call to action.
He said the time for equivocation was over and if no action was taken to address climate problems the world would face grave consequences. He said that if no action was taken, the world would face impacts such as drought, famine and rising sea levels.
He listed droughts, famines and rising sea levels as some of them. Delegates are hoping to agree a "Bali roadmap" leading to further cuts in greenhouse gas emissions when the Kyoto Protocol targets expire in 2012.
But Mr Ban stressed there was still time to face the issues and avoid the worst-case scenarios. The US and Canada are among countries opposed to further binding targets.
"We gather because the time for equivocation is over," he said. The UN itself wants developed countries to commit to cuts of 25-40% by 2020.
"We gather because the time for equivocation is over," said Mr Ban.
"The science is clear. Climate change is happening. The impact is real. The time to act is now.""The science is clear. Climate change is happening. The impact is real. The time to act is now."
The newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd handed documents to Mr Ban confirming his government's ratifification of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Australian decision leaves the US as the only industrialised nation outside the Kyoto process.
Replacing KyotoReplacing Kyoto
Negotiators in Bali have been trying to map out the process for a climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. Negotiators have been trying to map out the process for a climate change agreement to replace the current targets in the Kyoto Protocol which expire in 2012.
Broad building-blocks have already been agreed but much of the detail remains contentious, in particular how much weight to give to the heavy emissions cuts recommended by the UN's panel of scientists.Broad building-blocks have already been agreed but much of the detail remains contentious, in particular how much weight to give to the heavy emissions cuts recommended by the UN's panel of scientists.
The US among others has remained firmly against binding targets for cuts in emissions but the EU and many developing countries say they are necessary for industrialised countries.
The science is clear but the political response to it less so, the BBC's Lucy Williamson reports from Bali.
The ministers gathered here now will need to agree on how firmly to commit themselves to the stark target set by the UN's panel of scientists.The ministers gathered here now will need to agree on how firmly to commit themselves to the stark target set by the UN's panel of scientists.
So far agreement on that has been the major sticking-point here and the ministers now have three days to come up with an answer, our correspondent notes. So far agreement on that has been the major sticking-point and the ministers now have three days to come up with an answer.