More from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The Secretary-General's Statements

It is a great pleasure to take part in this discussion. As everybody knows by this time, I have called climate change a defining issue of our era, and I have taken it as the highest priority in the agenda as Secretary-General. I am therefore especially grateful to you for highlighting the ways in which climate change threatens to undermine our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, as has been very succinctly summarized – climate change hinders the progress of the MDGs.

We see new evidence every day.

Glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, threatening fresh water resources.

Erratic rainfall and extreme weather associated with climate change are jeopardizing agriculture, compounding the food crisis and hindering our efforts to eradicate hunger.

Drought in Africa forces women to walk greater distances – as much as 10 to 15 kilometres a day -- to fetch water. This keeps young girls out of school, which is an obstacle to both gender and education goals.

This weighs heaviest on the poorest of the poor, who have neither the resources nor the capacity to cope.

All of us -- Governments, UN bodies, NGOs, the business community -- need to better understand the links between climate change and the MDGs. That would ensure that our responses are scientifically and economically sound. In a sense, we need to “climate proof” our activities, to the extent possible.

We know what we need to do, and by when. The science is very clear. I believe the IPCC could contribute even more to consensus building by including more developing-country expertise in its assessment. This would promote universal ownership of its conclusions, and ensure that negotiations are anchored even more deeply in [junk?] science.