UN chief urges climate action before key New York summit

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, said on Sunday that he was hopeful a goal of limiting global temperature rises to 2°C can be achieved, in advance of a key New York summit in September.

Mr Ban attended a climate change conference in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi and said: "We have to ask the leaders to commit to bold ambitious targets and we will ask them to accelerate their actions on the ground".

A crucial summit in New York on 23 September could see developed countries outline greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction plans beyond 2020.

The September summit is seen as a key step towards securing a global climate deal in 2015 at the annual UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris.

Governments have agreed to limit temperature rises to a maximum 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial times to avert irreversible impacts of climate change including severe heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

A recent report released by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the impacts are irrefutably linked to climate change.

The IPCC’s report was presented in April and said that policies currently in place put the world on target for a temperature rise of up to 4.8°C (8.6°F) by 2100.

The report is the primary scientific reference point for nations working on a U.N. deal to be agreed in 2015 to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have hit repeated highs this century.

Mr Ban shared his plans to discuss the issue with Chinese leaders on a trip this month and said: "We expect that China will do more and other BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries will do more."