Ban lauds Copenhagen Accord
2009-12-19 14:14
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Ban KI-Moon
As a child in South Korea, Ban Ki-moon wrote a letter to the UN secretary-general regarding the...
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Copenhagen - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Saturday praised the deal at the Copenhagen climate summit as an "essential beginning" but admitted it did not achieve all that was hoped.
"It may not be everything we hoped for, but this decision of the Conference of Parties is an essential beginning," Ban told reporters in the Danish capital.
"Many will say that it lacks ambition," Ban said. "Nonetheless, you have achieved much."
Ban pointed to pledges on financing by wealthy nations to developing states and said that the Copenhagen Accord would be "immediately operational" as of January 1.
"We will try to have a legally binding treaty as soon as possible in 2010," he said.
Ban has made climate change a key priority and convened a summit of leaders in September at the United Nations in hopes of boosting Copenhagen's chances of success.
Ban said that he personally helped ease last-minute disputes that could have scuttled the conference and said he had neither slept nor eaten full meals in the past 24 hours.
"The leaders of the world came and showed what leadership means - they went to the brink and pulled back," he said.