KENYA:A UN conference is confronting the dangers of climate change, writes Rob Crillyin Nairobi
The world has reached a crucial stage in its race to beat climate change as evidence mounts that global warming is directly affecting human health and development, according to the secretary general of the United Nations.
Ban Ki-moon, who took up the post at the start of the year, promised to make the issue one of his priorities in an address to ministers assembling in the Kenyan capital Nairobi for a global environment conference designed to rein in the excesses of globalisation.
It is the latest sign that climate change is being recognised by governments and world bodies as the biggest challenge facing humankind.
Last week the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - intended as the definitive verdict on the science of man-made global warming - warned that world temperatures could increase by 3 degrees by the end of the century.
Its report projected that sea levels were likely to rise by 28-43 centimetres and that global warming would increase the intensity of tropical storms.
Yesterday almost 100 environment ministers and deputy ministers assembled for the opening day of the annual Global Ministerial Environment Forum.
It is held by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) which also yesterday published a review of globalisation and its impact on natural resources.
It warns that global fish stocks will be wiped out by 2050, forestry destroyed and water resources depleted without the introduction of creative market mechanisms to steer global commerce on to a more responsible course.
Mr Ban said not enough was being done, despite the warnings, to use the world's natural resources in a sustainable way.
"Moreover, the effects of climate change are being felt across the globe, with increasing risks for human health and the loss of ecosystems," he said in a message read to delegates at the Unep headquarters in Nairobi.
He added that the world's poor would suffer disproportionately as natural resources began to run dry and climate change took hold.
"It is also becoming increasingly clear, in north and south alike, that there is an inextricable, mutually dependent relationship between environmental sustainability and economic development," he said. "This means that respect for the environment, and recognition of the crucial link between environmental and economic policies, could enjoy better prospects of being put at the centre of our efforts to conquer poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals."
The main focus of the five-day meeting is globalisation and its impact on the environment, as well as how to reform the United Nations to ensure it is best placed to lead attempts to tackle climate change.
Achim Steiner, Unep executive director, said globalisation was not intrinsically good or bad. Instead, delegates would be considering ways to ensure that it was helping deliver the maximum benefits at the minimum cost to the planet, he said.
"Globalisation is one of the defining issues of our time," added Mr Steiner. "Wealth is being generated on an unprecedented scale and millions are being lifted out of poverty. But a big question mark hangs over its future and its sustainability for current and future generations."
Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki urged some of the developed countries outside the UN climate treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, to take steps that could reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that are blamed for rapid climate change.
Doing so, added Mr Kibaki, could help poorer countries to develop.
"The challenge is to create a planet that allows development in a sustainable manner," Mr Kibaki told the conference.
"The negative effects of climate change in developing countries make a direct impact on development," he said. "We urge our friends from the developed world to join hands with us from developing countries to bridge the ever-increasing gap. . . to take economic development to greater heights to benefit the environment."