A high-level climate change meeting opened Sunday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital Abu Dhabi in the presence of United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.
The Abu Dhabi Ascent, attended by government, business and civil society leaders, aims to build momentum for the Climate Summit, to be hosted by the U.N. in September.
Former U.S. vice president Al Gore, former British prime minister Tony Blair and former Mexican president Felipe Calderon are partaking in the two-day meeting.
“A major focus of Abu Dhabi Ascent will be on the economic benefits of action on climate change. Reducing emissions, while promoting economic and social development, is the challenge before us, because there is no alternative,” Calderon, who chairs the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, an initiative sponsored by seven countries into the economics of climate change, said in a statement.
Earlier, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in an April report that greenhouse gas emissions worldwide have risen dramatically over the past decade.
In order to limit the increase of the global average temperature to 2 degrees Celsius by mid-century, the report said, the world nations must work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 40 percent, and as much as 70 percent.
By Ahmed al-Masri
englishnews@aa.com.tr
