London links climate to foreign policy

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- British foreign policy is inextricably linked to tackling the challenges of climate change, the British foreign secretary said in New York.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague delivers a speech Monday on climate change at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.

Hague's speech focuses on the need to take action to preserve access to clean water, arable land and scarce resources. Acting now, he says, will prevent disputes over limited resources from turning into potential sources of conflict, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office says.

In the past, Hague has focused on early action as a way to address climate change challenges before irreversible damage has been done.

"The problems it (climate change) can create, such as conflict over resources, would require far more costly intervention if left unaddressed," he was quoted as saying.

His speech Monday in New York comes nine weeks before the international community meets in Cancun, Mexico, to take up the matter with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Global climate negotiations remain deadlocked after the Copenhagen climate summit last year ended without a binding climate protection agreement.