BBC NEWS | Special Reports | UN chief warns on climate change

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | UN chief warns on climate change: "UN chief warns on climate change
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon urged the US to lead the way in tackling climate change
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that climate change poses as much of a danger to the world as war.

In his first address on the issue, Mr Ban said changes in the environment were likely to become a major driver of future war and conflicts.

He urged the US - the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases - to take the lead in fighting global warming.

Mr Ban said he would focus on the issue in talks with leaders of the G8 group of industrialised nations in June.

The UN is also due to hold a conference on climate change in Bali in December.

UN environment officials have been urging Mr Ban to take up the issue, says the BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York, arguing that global leadership is needed and that he could make an impact.


The danger posed by war to all of humanity and to our planet is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming
Ban Ki-moon

Speaking to schoolchildren at a UN conference in New York, Mr Ban said his generation had been 'somewhat careless' with the planet but that he was hopeful that that was changing.

'The majority of the United Nations' work still focuses on preven"