U.N. chief seeks global answer to climate

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Addressing climate change is a "moral obligation," U.N. General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said Monday in the first U.N. climate meeting in New York.

“The science is clear; it is unequivocal,” Kerim said at U.N. headquarters while announcing “Responding to Climate Change” as the theme for this year’s general debate kicking off Tuesday. “Beyond the impact on ecosystems, economics and communities everywhere, we have a moral obligation to our fellow human beings.”

Monday's meeting was the largest-ever assembly of world leaders on the issue and will serve as a guide for climate change-related negotiations scheduled to take place in Bali, Indonesia, in December, Kerim said in a news release. The Bali meeting will consider action on how climate change issues can be addressed after the 2012 expiration of the Kyoto Protocol, the current global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Finding solutions to climate change issues must be global, Kerim said.

“What we need now is ... a clear vision of the way forward and a strategy to get us there together,” he said.